US investors happy Verizon still likely to buy Yahoo

By Barry Eitel

SAN FRANCISCO (AA) – Yahoo’s stock rose 3 percent Wednesday after reports said Verizon is close to signing off on acquiring the Internet pioneer with only a $250 million discount.

Wireless company Verizon announced in July it would purchase Yahoo’s core business, which includes its advertising, content, search and mobile divisions, for $4.83 billion.

In the months that followed, Yahoo revealed it was the victim of two of the biggest hackings in history — one in 2014 that effected 500 million accounts and another in 2013 that affected more than 1 billion users.

After those admissions, investors worried Verizon might cancel the acquisition, or ask for an extremely steep discount. Sources speaking to Bloomberg and other news outlets on Wednesday said, however, that Verizon was only knocking off around $250 million from the originally agreed upon price.

Shares of Yahoo jumped amid the news and eventually closed at $45.65 per share, a 1.4 percent increase from the prior day’s close.

Verizon nor Yahoo commented on the reports of a reduced price.

Also Wednesday, Yahoo sent an email to users warning that it had been the victim of a third major security breach. The latest hack appeared to be much more recent, the company’s statement noted.

"Based on the ongoing investigation, we believe a forged cookie may have been used in 2015 or 2016 to access your account,” Yahoo said to effected users.

These “forged cookies” allow hackers to access information, like emails, without having to enter a password.

Yahoo did not reveal how many users were effected by the latest attack, but the company believes many of the accounts were previously compromised in the 2014 hacking of 500 million accounts.

"The investigation has identified user accounts for which we believe forged cookies were taken or used,” the company said in a statement. “Yahoo is in the process of notifying all potentially affected account holders.”