A couple of weeks ago, there were conflicting reports on the bids that Yahoo received in its planned sale of its web assets. Yahoo was worth over $100 billion at its peak, but analysts expect the acquisition bids to be between $4 billion to $8 billion and, in some reports, even lower at only about $2 billion to $3 billion.
According to a source familiar with the matter, Verizon Communications, still among the bidders for Yahoo's core business, will be submitting an offer of $3 billion for the second round of bidding.
Also according to the source, Verizon has told Yahoo that its bid will go higher or lower depending on certain factors, such as if Yahoo would agree in helping out with severance payments to workers that would be laid off if the acquisition would push through.
Verizon is considered to be the leading contender among the groups looking to acquire Yahoo's web assets, and its $3 billion bid will fall in line with the value contained in previous reports. Yahoo is expected to be holding at least one more bidding round, with the bids still possibly changing by then.
Among the other contenders bidding to acquire Yahoo were private equity firms TPG, Vista Equity Partners and Advent International, along with a group led by Dan Gilbert, the founder of Quicken Loans.
However, it is Verizon that is viewed to be at the forefront of the race due to it being seen as the firm having the best chance at turning around the struggling internet company. Verizon, which acquired AOL last year in a deal worth $4.4 billion, will likely be looking to combine Yahoo's web assets with its burgeoning online advertising business.
Yahoo, which attracts over a billion users monthly, has been left behind by rivals such as Google and Facebook, with the internet portal only capturing 1.5 percent of the digital advertising market so far this year.
