Yahoo-Verizon $4.8B Deal Delayed, Data Breaches Complicates Closing Conditions

Floundering online tech giant Yahoo was supposed to have been close to selling to Verizon at $4.8 billion, but the deal had to be pushed back. According to the company, it was because of complications in meeting closing requirements. However, it’s clear that the recent reports of major data breaches are having an effect on the acquisition that practically anyone could have seen coming a mile away.

The deal between Yahoo and Verizon was supposed to have been done in the first quarter of 2017, Business Insider reports. Now, it’s been pushed back to the second quarter.

"Given work required to meet closing conditions, the transaction is now expected to close in Q2 of 2017," the tech company said in a statement.

Naturally, Yahoo provided no specifics as to what is causing the delay in actually meeting the conditions to close the deal. However, Business Insider got insider information indicating how the recent revelations about the data breaches have caused an increase in inquiries. At the close of market on Monday, Yahoo’s share were barely up 1 percent.

According to the agreements pertaining to the deal, it would appear that Yahoo had until April 24th to close the whole thing and transfer rights over to Verizon. If this didn’t happen, Verizon would have had the option to cancel the arrangements or Yahoo could have asked for an extension worth three months.

As would be expected, the delay didn’t exactly sit well with investors who were becoming increasingly agitated over the messy affairs that was the acquisition deal, USA Today reports. After the two consecutive reports of massive data breaches where hundreds of millions of user data became vulnerable, investors only wanted the whole thing to end. Now, they will likely have to wait another three months before Yahoo is signed over to the American telecommunication company.