Verizon is apparently planning to see through its proposed $4.83 billion acquisition of Yahoo!, despite the latter's recent disclosure that the world's sixth most trafficked website was hacked a second time in 2014 impacting as many as 1 billion user accounts.
The deal, first announced on July 25, was initially speculated to possibly unravel because of potential financial and legal liabilities related to two massive data breaches, but analysts generally talking to Bloomberg believe Verizon might benefit in driving down the final price as much as by 5 to 10 percent instead of walking away from the deal.
News of rampant cyberhacks shaking both the private and public sectors practically on a daily basis may have worked in Yahoo's favor, with Verizon giving Yahoo the benefit of doubt, the investment analysts believe.
Neither Verizon nor Yahoo is speaking publicly about what bearing the hacks might take on the transaction.
However, the synergies between Yahoo's 1 billion-plus users, coupled with its rich content, and Verizon's more than 100 million wireless customers, remain too enticing as an advertising play to kill the deal.
Verizon will be conducting its fourth quarter 2016 earnings conference call on Jan. 24, 2017 at 8:30 a.m. The status of the Yahoo acquisition is sure to draw a lot of questions from analysts.
