Yahoo Inc said on Friday that it would not hold a call or webcast when it reports third-quarter results on Tuesday, citing its pending $4.83 billion deal with Verizon Communications Inc.
Last month, Yahoo disclosed a massive data breach in 2014 that affected at least 500 million of its email accounts.
Verizon soon called it a ‘material event’, which essentially means the company wouldn’t have offered the amount it did, had it known about the data breach earlier. It may also have probably not bid for Yahoo at all. And, this makes it even worse for Yahoo.
According to Cnet, a Verizon spokesman had said “material” finding kills the acquisition, said “the statement stands on its own. Nothing more.” This clearly hints at a possibility of Verizon changing its mind. If this happens, the company may just lose its chance of getting whatever asking price it still can, or simply struggle finding a new buyer. In worse case, there are chances that Verizon may renegotiate the price, and experts believe that Yahoo may have no other choice either.
Verizon reports results on October 20. Companies that are being acquired do not typically hold earnings calls with analysts.
With input from Reuters