Softbank buys Yahoo Japan brand from Verizon for $1.6 billion

[bill]

Verizon to Sell Yahoo Japan Brand to Softbank Unit
Verizon (VZ) has agreed to sell the rights to Yahoo branding and technology in Japan to Softbank's (SFTBY) Z Holdings Corporation (ZHD Group). The transaction is expected to generate 178.5 billion yen ($1.61 billion) for Verizon.

...

ZHD Group has been making royalty payments to Verizon to use the Yahoo brand. Under the new agreement, ZHD Group will acquire perpetual rights to the Yahoo brand in Japan, and the royalty payments will cease.

https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/verizon-to-sell-yahoo-japan-brand-to-softbank-unit-2021-07-06

[edited by: Brett_Tabke at 6:20 pm (utc) on Jul 9, 2021]

[martinibuster]

Seems like a lot of money for technology and a tired brand. Is the brand name really that popular in Japan?

[bill]

It's still quite popular. There are Yahoo phones. A Yahoo branded ISP. Yahoo Auctions is still one of the top auction sites, and the Yahoo News portal is the most highly trafficked in Japan. The name still has clout here.

[iamlost]

Note: SoftBank was original partner in creation of Yahoo Japan a year after Yahoo itself was incorporated. Back to its roots. :)

Remains Japan’s most popular portal (100+ services) and it’s search (20% of market, June 2021) leads or is competitive with Google in B2B (~33% more office/desktop users, ~15% fewer mobile) especially as perceived/used by managers.

It had about 1.2 trillion yen (12 billion USD) revenue last year with ~545 billion yen (5-billion USD profit).

Do your own figuring.