Yahoo buys digital ad service BrightRoll for $640 mn

By Agencies On Nov 12, 2014

Yahoo Inc is weighing a sale of its core business and will not sell its stake in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, CNBC reported, a sharp reversal that came after pressure from an activist investor.

Yahoo is buying digital video advertising service BrightRoll for USD 640 million in an effort to boost its revenue after years of little or no growth.

The acquisition announced yesterday marks Yahoo’s first major purchase since reaping a USD 9.4 billion windfall in September by selling part of its stake in a rapidly rising Internet star, Chinese e-commerce service Alibaba Group Ltd.

Yahoo Inc has promised to distribute at least one half of the USD 6.3 billion in after-tax proceeds to its shareholders, giving CEO Marissa Mayer the option of spending rest on acquisitions that could enable the Sunnyvale, California, company to recover some of the ground that it has lost to rivals Google Inc and Facebook Inc in the booming online ad market.

BrightRoll helps place ads in digital videos.

Yahoo buys digital ad service BrightRoll for $640 mn

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