After waiting and waiting, Yahoo investors are feeling optimistic that a sale is finally around the corner.
In the last two days, the company’s stock has topped $39 a share, which hasn’t happened since July 24, 2015. The gain in value is reassuring given that Yahoo shares lost a third of their value in 2015, largely due to its exposure to the Chinese markets from its stake in Alibaba.
Yahoo is believed to have collected the last of its takeover bids on July 18, and is expected to make a decision soon afterward. So far, Verizon appears to be the frontrunner.
It’s been a long saga for Yahoo shareholders. The beleaguered tech giant had cycled through six CEOs in six years before Marissa Mayer was brought in as chief executive in 2012. Though she initially drummed up excitement around Yahoo, shareholders grew impatient waiting for her turnaround to crystalize.
Hoping to appease them, Mayer at the start of 2015 said the company would spin off its 15% stake in Alibaba, then worth $40 billion, and transfer that value to shareholders. By the end of the year, it became unclear if the transaction would go through on a tax-free basis, leading Yahoo to abandon the plan and explore “strategic alternatives,” including a sale of its core business.