Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) CEO Marissa Mayer told that Alibaba spinoff proceedings are going as planned. Shareholders have been enthusiastic about Yahoo’s stake in Alibaba, which has grown to be worth tens of billions when Yahoo finally makes it public.
Upcoming tax changes won’t affect spinoff
The shares of the internet firm spiked 2.3% post Mayer’s statement that she is confident on the plan, which will give the shares in the Chinese e-commerce company to Yahoo shareholders.
While speaking at the Bloomberg Technology Conference in San Francisco, the CEO said the proceedings will not be hindered by any regulatory changes.
During the conference, she told those gathered that the firm has made sure that any new tax steps are not specific to Yahoo. Just last month, a US Internal Revenue service official said that the agency is analyzing some amendments in the rules related to the spinoffs. Yahoo has now made it clear that the upcoming IRS changes to the tax-free treatment of the spinoff would not affect the previously filed requests.
Yahoo is working on the same plan that it made before, and the transaction is set to be closed in the fourth quarter. Mayer said that the firm is moving ahead with its plans, and any amendments do not cover the previous requests. She said that the “proposed” changes will not affect the applicable law, but are only changing the processes.
“There are many of these transactions. We feel like we should proceed with the transaction as we planned,” said Mayer.
Mayer exploring options for Yahoo Japan
Also, Mayer said that the firm is also working to identify the potential options for Yahoo Japan. She said that it would be too early to comment on the plan as the company is working with the advisers to optimize the value of Yahoo Japan.
At the conference, Mayer also discussed Yahoo’s new partnership with the National Football League to stream a game in October on the Yahoo service. She also expressed her willingness to work with NFL in the future.
It’s been around three years since Mayer joined as Yahoo CEO, and from the very start, she is looking to transform the internet firm, amplify growth to face competition from Google and Facebook. During the first-quarter, sales excluding the revenue shared with the partner websites dropped 4% to $1.04 billion, below the analyst’s estimates.
On Tuesday, Yahoo shares closed up 0.41% at $40.63, and year to date, the stock is down almost 21%.
