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Verizon Confirms $4.8bn Yahoo Takeover

US telecoms giant Verizon (NYSE: VZ - news) has confirmed it is buying Yahoo (Hanover: YHO.HA - news) 's operating business for $4.83bn (£3.68bn).

The sale includes its search and advertising businesses, including its email service and news pages.

Yahoo will be left with its stakes in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba and Yahoo Japan, which together are worth around $40bn.

Verizon is paying cash for the business, and the deal is expected to complete in the first quarter of 2017 subject to Yahoo shareholders' approval.

The deal ends months of speculation about beleaguered Yahoo's future.

In February Yahoo confirmed it was drawing up an "aggressive strategic plan", after plans to spin-off its Alibaba stake fell through and in April it was reported it was inviting bidders to put forward offers.

Earlier this year it said it was cutting 15% of its staff in an effort to turn the company around after it made a $4.4bn loss in 2015 and its share price plummeted by 34%.

However, in the three months to the end of April, Yahoo reported a $99m (£68m) loss .

Yahoo's chief executive Marissa Meyer said in a statement: "Yahoo is a company that has changed the world, and will continue to do so through this combination with Verizon and AOL (Xetra: 6OL.DE - news) .

"The sale of our operating business, which effectively separates our Asian asset equity stakes, is an important step in our plan to unlock shareholder value for Yahoo."

Yahoo will be integrated with AOL under Marni Walden, executive vice president and president of the product innovation and new organization at Verizon.

Ms Meyer added in her statement: "I'm planning to stay."

New (KOSDAQ: 160550.KQ - news) -York based Verizon may be best known in the UK for its link to Vodafone, which announced in 2013 that it was selling its 45% stake in their joint venture, Verizon Wireless, for £84bn.

Verizon is trying to grow its online presence, with an eye to challenging Google's supremacy.

Last year it bought AOL , whose brands include The Huffington Post, in a $4.4bn (£2.8bn) deal.

Chief executive and chairman of Verizon, Lowell McAdam, said: "Just over a year ago we acquired AOL to enhance our strategy of providing a cross-screen connection for consumers, creators and advertisers.

"The acquisition of Yahoo will put Verizon in a highly competitive position as a top global mobile media company, and help accelerate our revenue stream in digital advertising."