Verizon reportedly to close Yahoo acquisition with a $250mn discount

Everyone knew this was coming. Verizon and Yahoo are closing their deal with a price tag that’s $250 million less than the $4.8 billion agreed upon last year, according to a Bloomberg report.

Though the figure is smaller than what some investors had expected but it includes terms and conditions that lay down that the company left over from the Yahoo deal, called Altaba, will assume much of the future liability for security breaches that might still be uncovered.

Since the disclosures of Yahoo’s two massive data breaches affecting more than a billion users, there had been constant talks regarding Verizon renegotiating the deal. The hacks, which occurred during Mayer’s tenure, have already set off a round of lawsuits, as well as several government investigations.

The New York Post reported that after the first disclosure, Verizon was already asking for a $1 billion discount. And after the second hack, Bloomberg said Verizon might pull out altogether.

Verizon is expected to amalgamate its AOL unit that it bought in 2015 with Yahoo’s search features, mail and messenger services and advertising assets. As the wireless communication market is moving towards saturation, Verizon is looking forward to new sources of revenue, like mobile videos and advertising. According to the sources, the deal is now likely to close by April, the time frame Yahoo had announced recently.