Verizon Communications And Yahoo! Agree To Cut Takeover Price By $350 Mln

(RTTNews) - Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) and Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) announced Tuesday that they have amended the existing terms of their agreement that would reduce the price Verizon will pay for the internet company's core business by $350 million. In addition, the companies will share certain legal and regulatory liabilities arising from certain data breaches incurred by Yahoo.

Verizon's acquisition of Yahoo - now valued at approximately $4.48 billion in cash, subject to closing adjustments - is expected to close in second-quarter 2017.

Marni Walden, Verizon executive vice president and president of Product Innovation and New Businesses, said, "The amended terms of the agreement provide a fair and favorable outcome for shareholders. It provides protections for both sides and delivers a clear path to close the transaction in the second quarter."

Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo, said, "We continue to be very excited to join forces with Verizon and AOL. This transaction will accelerate Yahoo's operating business especially on mobile, while effectively separating our Asian asset equity stakes. It is an important step to unlock shareholder value for Yahoo, and we can now move forward with confidence and certainty."

As per the amended terms, Yahoo will be responsible for 50 percent of any cash liabilities incurred following the closing related to non-SEC or Securities and Exchange Commission government investigations and third-party litigation related to the breaches. Liabilities arising from shareholder lawsuits and SEC investigations will continue to be the responsibility of Yahoo.

Also under the amended terms, the data breaches or losses arising from them will not be taken into account in determining whether a "Business Material Adverse Effect" has occurred or whether certain closing conditions have been satisfied.

In July 2016, Telecom giant Verizon Communications agreed to acquire the operating business of struggling Internet company Yahoo Inc. for about $4.83 billion in cash.

In December, 2016, Yahoo! had disclosed another major security breach that may have affected more than 1 billion user accounts. Yahoo said that it had n't been able to identify the "intrusion" associated with this theft by a third party in August 2013. The event was unearthed by forensic experts after law enforcement investigators warned the company about a potential breach.

In September 2016, Yahoo had said the personal information of at least 500 million accounts was stolen in a 2014 attack on its accounts. The attacker was a "state-sponsored actor," and stolen information may have included names, e-mail addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, encrypted passwords and, in some cases, unencrypted security questions and answers, Yahoo said.