Yahoo Eyes Potential IPO Six Years After Delisting — CEO Jim Lanzone Says 'Ready Financially'

Dotcom sensation Yahoo, which was yanked off the public market in 2017 following its acquisition by Verizon, is reportedly contemplating a relisting.

What Happened: Yahoo CEO Jim Lanzone said he aims to take the company to an initial public offering again as the internet services company eyes a return to its heydays, Financial Times reported, citing an interview with the executive.

The executive touted the readiness of the company for the proposed IPO. Yahoo is "ready financially," with a great balance sheet, he reportedly said, while also noting that the company is "very profitable."

That said, the executive also pointed to the privileges a private company structure bestowed. Being private allowed the company to make necessary structural changes, creating a series of business units, Lanzone reportedly said.

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Why It's Important: Yahoo debuted as a public company in April 1996 and went on to become one of the most valuable internet services companies, with its search and email.

After Verizon lapped up Yahoo in 2017 for $4.83 billion, the telecom giant spun off the company in Sept. 2021 as part of its move to divest its media assets. Private-equity firm Apollo lapped up Verizon's media assets, including Yahoo and AOL, and integrated into a new entity called Yahoo! Inc.

Over the years amid its two owners, Yahoo continued to lose share and popularity.

Lanzone reportedly told FT that even now Yahoo is among the top five globally in terms of traffic and ranks third in the search market after Alphabet, Inc.’s GOOGL GOOG Google and Microsoft Corp.’s MSFT Bing. Yahoo has more than 30 titles or business units, with the biggest of them branded as Yahoo, including finance, sports, news and mail. It also owns other news sites such as TechCrunch.

The CEO also said Yahoo would aggressively look at acquisitions in related sectors in a bid to horizontally integrate.

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