Marissa Mayer and Co. are waving the white flag at Yahoo, and a line of potential, high-profile bidders is starting to form.
The latest report has Verizon as the most serious about a making a move for the former web giant. The US wireless firm and its subsidiary AOL are reportedly working with at least three banks on a first-round bid, which are due on Monday.
The carrier is eyeing Yahoo's Web business, though it might also go for Yahoo's Japan Corp. stake if it helps sweeten the deal, sources of Bloomberg Technology said.
It's not the only interested party, however: Google is also considering bidding on Yahoo's core business, according to the report.
We don't have much else to go on regarding Google's potential bid, but it would make sense for the Alphabet arm to absorb Yahoo's still-sizeable internet assets. It's like a game of Risk: Google would only cement its total domination of the search engine space by taking over Yahoo's territory.
There are some tech names not in the mix, too. AT&T, Comcast and Microsoft, which failed at a hostile Yahoo takeover back in 2008, are reportedly staying away from the Yahoo bid wars. Microsoft might fund a small portion of an investment for whoever ends up with Yahoo, a source said, but it's possible it won't offer any cash at all.
How the mighty have fallen
Yahoo was once king of the net, but the shine on that crown wore off long ago.
The company is a shell of its former self, and it's bleeding money. Re/code got a hold of a Yahoo "book" sent to potential buyers so they can make informed bids, and it doesn't tell a pretty story.
According to the book, Yahoo expects its revenue to fall by nearly 15% and earnings more than 20% in 2016.
Mayer was brought in 2012 as CEO to turn around the company, but her efforts have been, in a word, futile.
If Verizon wins in its bid for Yahoo, the carrier will reportedly replace Mayer with AOL CEO Tim Armstrong and Verizon EVP Marni Walden. They would run Yahoo and AOL as one, sources said.
One bright spot for Mayer: She is reportedly super keen on Yahoo's personal assistant Index, according to Re/code, though she may be forgetting that Siri, Google Now and Cortana already have the corner in the intelligent app market.
Oh, Yahoo. You had some good years. Now, it's time to sell and move on.
