Yahoo has received more than 10 bids for its core internet business, with some of the higher ones coming in at the $8 billion range, Bloomberg's Alex Sherman reported on Friday.
The report said that Yahoo will narrow down the bids to seven finalists over the weekend, but noted that it will take at least another month to announce the final winning bid.
The bidders include Verizon, YP Holdings, TPG, and a group of investors comprised of Bain Capital and Vista Equity Partners, as well as one or two unnamed "strategic firms," the report said.
That's a much shorter list of bidders compared to the 40-plus companies that were initially reported to be interested in Yahoo. Rakuten, for example, never held any talks with Yahoo, despite reports of placing a first-round bid earlier this week, a person familiar with the matter told us.
Softbank, the majority owner of Yahoo Japan, has held talks with Verizon about Yahoo's minority stake in its Japanese partner site, but isn't interested in bidding for the core business, it said.
Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer said in the company's earnings call this week that the sales process is a "top priority" and that she's meeting daily with various parties involved.
But when asked for more details on the bidding process, she declined to share much, saying, "In order to protect the integrity of the process, we are not going to comment further on things like timing and/or particular offers."
Yahoo is struggling after a three-year turnaround effort led by Mayer failed to gain much traction. Recently, the company put its core internet business up for sale, following pressure from activist investors to make "significant changes" to the company.
