Verizon Said to Near Yahoo Deal at Lower Price

Verizon is close to a renegotiated deal for Yahoo’s internet properties that would reduce the price of the $4.8 billion agreement by about $250 million after the revelation of security breaches at the web company, according to Bloomberg.

In addition to the discount, Verizon and the entity that remains of Yahoo after the deal, to be renamed Altaba, are expected to share any ongoing legal responsibilities related to the breaches, said the people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified. An announcement of the new agreement could come in a matter of days or weeks, said the people. The revised agreement isn’t final and could still change, they said.

Last month, Yahoo said the sale would be delayed to the second quarter as the company assesses the impact from the breaches and meets closing conditions. The deal was first announced in July and had been set to wrap in the first quarter of 2017. The potential reworked deal signals that investigations into the breaches have been completed, a key concern for investors, according to a note from Kunal Madhukar, an analyst at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer is under pressure to conclude the deal. Her failure to turn around the company led to a bidding process that Verizon won in July. Mayer was running the company when both of the hacks took place. Yahoo had said it hadn’t been able to identify the “intrusion“ associated with the 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.