Verizon is allegedly pushing for a $1 billion reduction off its pending $4.8 billion agreement to buy Yahoo, according to the New York Post. The news comes after Yahoo announced it had lost data on 500 million users, and didn"t tell Verizon about the hack until just two days before that announcement, long after it had agreed its acquisition by the telecom giant.
If Verizon manages to get the price for Yahoo reduced, it’ll likely set aside the saved money to use as a fund for possible liabilities associated with the Yahoo email hack. A source for the New York Post said that Verizon is being cautious, because it doesn’t know what to expect as further details emerge about the data breach.
Verizon planned to acquire Yahoo so that it could couple it with its AOL unit to make it competitive against the likes of Facebook and Google in the ad market. According to the previously mentioned source, AOL CEO Tim Armstrong is “getting cold feet” and is “pretty upset about the lack of disclosure”.
Armstrong, according to the source is hoping the deal can be withdrawn altogether or, alternatively, that it can go ahead, but at a reduced price. Verizon thinks that Yahoo’s price has diminished because of all the scandals surrounding the company.
Yahoo is reportedly remaining tough, telling Verizon that a deal is a deal and that Verizon has no legal avenue to change the terms.
Source: New York Post