Yahoo may be looking to sell off core internet businesses

The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that Yahoo’s board will meet several times this week, during which the company’s directors will consider whether to sell Yahoo’s lucrative stake in Alibaba, the company’s core Internet business, or both.

The board at Yahoo will discuss selling the flagging core Internet businesses in a meeting that will be held this week.

The board is expected to discuss its options in sessions beginning Wednesday, November 2, and continuing through Friday, according to people familiar with the plans. Swisher also shot down reports that the company’s board was reconsidering its plans to spin off its valuable 15% stake in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba.

The meetings come amid an extensive debate about the future of the company and growing concerns around high-profile Yahoo Chief Executive Marissa Mayer and her lack of progress turning around Yahoo.

But Mayer hasn’t yet been able to match the excitement around products from many of Yahoo’s fiercest rivals.

In October, Mayer said the company would “reset” its efforts, according the the report. The investment proved to be a failure in terms of revenue, even though it helped Yahoo reach a user base of close to 1 billion – among the closest a company has ever got to Facebook.

With the turnaround attempts failing to succeed, Yahoo is considering selling its core Internet businesses. In a letter sent to Yahoo last month, Starboard said the spin-off of more than $20 billion in Alibaba shares (BABA) was too risky. Under her supervision, the company has modified its mobile apps including Yahoo Mail, Weather, Sports and Finance.

The investor said its position on the spin off changed after the decision by the federal government not to make a ruling on whether the spinoff would or would not incur taxes in the billions of dollars.

Specifically, Wieser advised there are challenges to Yahoo’s search business growth due to consolidation around Google and the risk that Facebook could enter the category.

In the meantime, Yahoo’s business has been taking a hit, and net revenue in the recent quarter fell eight percent.

As of now, Yahoo is the third largest web search engine in the U.S., in a chart where it is preceded by Bing and led by Google.

A representative of Yahoo declined to comment on the plans. After such a sale, all that would be left, essentially, is the Alibaba and Yahoo Japan stakes. Yahoo shares have fallen 35% this past year, as they trades for $33.71 as of December 1st closing.