US telecoms giant Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) is pushing for a US$1bn discount off of its pending US$4.8bn deal to buy Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO).
Verizon is said to be looking to secure the price reduction after internet giant Yahoo suffered from a string of bad news stories in recent weeks.
It was revealed a couple of weeks ago that around 500mln Yahoo accounts were hacked back in 2014.
Pouring salt on the wounds, only this week it was also reported that the company had been ordered by a secret foreign intelligence service to scan private emails for terrorist signatures.
The New York Post quotes a source close to the Verizon/ Yahoo deal as saying that Verizon was getting “getting cold feet”.
The source claims that Verizon executives are “upset” about the lack of disclosure regarding the news stories and are looking for a discount as compensation.
Insiders think the whole thing could just be Verizon playing hardball to try and get Yahoo to lower its asking price, with Yahoo not backing down from the original fee agreed.
Verizon agreed to buy Yahoo’s core internet businesses for US$4.83bn back in July, as part of a big new internet push by the telecoms firm.
Shares in Yahoo were down 18c to US$43.50, while shares in Verizon dipped 9c to US$50.17.