Verizon Communications plans to make a first-round bid for Yahoo! Inc's web business next week, and is willing to acquire the company's Yahoo! Japan Corp stake to help sweeten the offer, according to people familiar with the matter.
Google, the main division of Alphabet Inc, is also considering bidding for Yahoo!'s core business, a separate person said. Potential suitors AT&T Inc and Comcast have decided against bidding, some of the people said, asking not to be identified as the discussions aren't public. Microsoft Corp, which failed with a hostile bid for Yahoo! in 2008, won't bid this time, another person said. Time Inc is still evaluating a bid, while private equity funds Bain and TPG - among others - are also planning to make a run at the business, either alone or by backing a strategic acquirer, the people said.
While the buyout firms haven't yet paired themselves with a strategic buyer, they are open to the idea of doing so, the people said.
Yahoo has extended the deadline for first-round bids by a week, to April 18, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
Shares of Yahoo Japan jumped 6.4 percent in Tokyo, the biggest gain in almost three months. Yahoo shares fell 1.3 percent to $36.17 in New York Thursday.
