Yahoo Close To Purchasing TVGuide.com For $20 Million [REPORT]

Updated on

The owner of TVGuide.com, Lionsgate, is planning to sell the online destination for entertainment listings, news, video content, and mobile apps. And Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) is the front-runner for the deal, according to AllThingsD. Sources with knowledge of the discussions told AllThingsD that Marissa Mayer-led Yahoo hasn’t made a final offer yet, but it is considering adding TVGuide.com to its media portfolio.

Yahoo Close To Purchasing TVGuide.com For $20 Million [REPORT]

TVGuide seems to be a right fit for Yahoo. It currently offers a host of entertainment services, and Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO), through its Yahoo TV, provides much of what TVGuide offers. According to the Hollywood studio, Lionsgate, TVGuide.com attracts more than 24 million unique visitors every month, and has upward of seven million mobile app users.

Chief executive Marissa Mayer earlier said that the Internet giant would make smaller purchases to fill out its product line, especially in the mobile and entertainment space. Thus, Yahoo’s M&A head, Jackie Reses, is looking at “every damn thing in the world” across a broad spectrum of arenas. As Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) has decided to keep its IntoNow app around and is focusing on mobile tech, an acquisition of TVGuide makes perfect sense for the company.

Mayer let Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) into the mobile space by acquiring a New York-based small-size mobile app developer, called Stamped, in October. Stamped has only nine employees. Yahoo didn’t disclose the financial terms of the deal. It would certainly not be the only acquisition by Mayer after joining Yahoo.

However, whether TVGuide really fits into Marissa Mayer’s ambitions is still unknown. She keeps her strategic plans close to the vest. Lionsgate purchased TVGuide.com in 2009, and the entertainment site is also partially owned by JPMorgan’s Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) One Equity Partners.

Leave a Comment