How Yahoo came up with its new name - Altaba

The logo of Yahoo appears on a smartphone in Frankfurt, Germany. AP Photo/Michael Probst.

The logo of Yahoo appears on a smartphone in Frankfurt, Germany. AP Photo/Michael Probst.

Published Jan 14, 2017

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Washington

- Yahoo was already a shell of its former self. Now part of the company is

getting an obscure new name: Altaba.

When

Verizon agreed to buy the company for $4.8 billion in July 2016, it planned to

purchase just Yahoo's core Internet businesses, which include its email

service, sports verticals and various apps. What's left of the embattled

technology company would essentially be its ownership in the very valuable

Chinese Internet giant Alibaba.

When the

deal closes, the remaining part will change its name to Altaba, the company

announced in security filings on Monday. The sale is expected to be completed

by late March.

The new

name is meant to be a combination of the words "alternative and

Alibaba," according to a person familiar with the company's thinking, who

didn't want to be named because the individual was not authorized to speak on

the record about the name change.

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Today Yahoo

owns roughly 15 percent of Alibaba, holdings that are worth about $35 billion.

The idea behind the name is that Altaba's stock can now be tracked as an

alternative to Alibaba because Yahoo owns a sizeable chunk of the Chinese

company.

The new

company, which will be publicly traded and until now has been referred to as

RemainCo in security filings, also owns a 35.5 percent stake in Yahoo Japan,

the company's Japanese affiliate, and Yahoo's cash, and a patent portfolio that

is being sold off in a separate auction.

A Yahoo

spokeswoman, Suzanne Philion, would not comment on the name. She emailed the

following statement: "We are confident in Yahoo's value and we continue to

work towards integration with Verizon."

WASHINGTON POST

 

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