The largest mobile operator in the US, Verizon Communications is reportedly considering a bid to scoop up Yahoo. Verizon's chairman and CEO Lowell McAdam confirmed this when he spoke with CNBC. If the deal goes through, Yahoo is expected to be placed under AOL which was acquired by Verizon in May 2015 for $4.4 billion in its bid to expand into online advertising. Tim Armstrong, chief executive officer of Verizon's AOL unit is said to be given the leading role to explore the acquisition.
The acquisition will lead to Verizon having an indirect stake in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, Yahoo's biggest asset. Apart from Alibaba, the acquisition, if it goes through will provide Verizon access to Yahoo's Brightroll ad platform, which will see Verizon having direct control over a huge inventory and monetization opportunities via mobile video ads. The ad exchange technology will also help Verizon's sponsored data initiative, FreeBee Data that was launched a few weeks back.
