The Deal
Saturday, November 21, 
6:51 pm

Yahoo! Personals could be Bartz's next cut

  Share     E-Mail    Discussion (1)     Print Story
bartz,-carol-125x100.jpgCarol Bartz wasn't kidding when she said she planned to aggressively trim underperforming assets from Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) and simplify its corporate structure, as it appears another piece of the Internet company is on the cutting block.

This time it's Yahoo! Personals, the company's online dating business. During an earnings call Wednesday afternoon, IAC/InteractiveCorp (NASDAQ:IACI) CEO Barry Diller said that his company is in talks with Yahoo! to acquire the unit, which is a rival to IAC's Match.com property.

"We would love to have Yahoo! Personals, and there are some initial discussions about that," Diller said, according to a transcript of the call from Seeking Alpha. "I think Yahoo! has said it's not an absolute core asset to their future, and it is core to us."

Citing an analyst's estimate, The Wall Street Journal's online edition said the unit could fetch around $500 million.

Other Yahoo! units that have fallen before CEO Bartz's blade include hosted Web page site GeoCities and travel comparison service FareChase. Yahoo!'s career site HotJobs is rumored to be on the block too. - Olaf de Senerpont Domis


Continue reading below

Also on Dealscape





Comments

From: niceguyted,

I wonder if Diller realizes that a good percentage of the profiles on Yahoo! Personals are fake (my guess would be in the 65% range). Or does it matter, as long as the site is making money? I haven't tried Match (yet), but I would imagine that the profiles thereon are more likely to be real people.


Post a comment





The Deal Pipeline

Deal Video


Inside The Deal: Avaya Inc.'s Mohamad Ali on the company's next target.


More video...

Crisis On Wall Street
Technology
Deals of The Decade

Community

Industry Insight

Managing your shareholder base

Growth companies and their PE sponsors should be wary of the pitfalls that arise when they layer on tiers of preferred stock.


Industry Insight

Easing the stress of distressed M&A

Corporate buyers face numerous complexities when trying to identify the right moment to purchase a distressed asset.


Editor's Note

Editor's letter: Nov. 16, 2009

Beneath the veneer of Wall Streeters beats the same heart, stirred by the same determinants of behavior.


footspacer.jpg footspacer.jpg footspacer.jpg footspacer.jpg footspacer.jpg


©Copyright 2009, The Deal, LLC. All rights reserved. Please send all technical questions, comments or concerns to the Webmaster.