Private equity suitors TPG, Advent International and a partnership of Sycamore Partners and Vector Capital Management are into the final round of bidding for Yahoo, said people familiar with the matter.
The three buyout groups join Verizon Communications, AT&T and Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert in the last weeks of bidding, with each vying to win Yahoo’s Internet business and some of its intellectual property and real estate assets.
All of the offers, except for Verizon’s, value Yahoo from about $4 billion to $6 billion, said one of the people, all of whom asked not to be identified. Verizon’s bid was lower — from $3.75 billion to $4 billion — because it doesn’t include Yahoo’s patents and real estate, the person said. Verizon would be willing to acquire both additional assets, people familiar with the matter said last week.
The bids are difficult to compare, because each includes a different amount of Yahoo’s intellectual property, the people said. Assessing offers for assets extended the auction, they said.