Fading internet portal Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO) is said to be wasting little time in contacting potential buyers of its core business.
The company said on Friday it had formed a special committee on independent directors to mull the strategic options available to it, the most popular of which seems to be hiving off its incredibly valuable stake in Chinese e-commerce business Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) into a separate entity, and then selling the rump of the business to an interested party.
According to news agency Bloomberg, the company intends to start contacting likely suitors today, with telecoms & media companies Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ), Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) and AT&T (NYSE:T) in the frame, along with private equity groups such as Bain Capital and TPG.
The potential first-round bids for the business are unlikely to come in for at least a month, according to Bloomberg, quoting anonymous sources said to be familiar with the sale process.
The move to maximize value before advertising giant Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has finished completely eating Yahoo's lunch comes against a background of increased activity from investors such as Starboard Value, which are said to be girding their loins for a proxy battle for control of the company.
The New York Post reported that Yahoo! has engaged proxy advisory firm Innisfree M&A to drum up institutional support, and Evercore Partners, an investment bank that has a good track record in fending off activists investors.
For its part, Starboard Value has reportedly enlisted proxy advisory firm Okapi Partners to help it secure support for changes it wants made to the board.
Shares in Yahoo were up 1.4% at $30.46 in early deals on Monday.