US telecoms firm Verizon would “look at” Yahoo if it went up for sale
Verizon has indicated its interest in Yahoo, saying it would "look at" the internet business if it were put up for sale.
The US telecoms company's finance chief Fran Shammo told a conference in New York it was too early to talk about acquiring Yahoo, but that it could be interested if "Yahoo was right".
Verizon has been pegged as one of the frontrunners to acquire Yahoo's internet business, the future of which is said to be the subject of discussion by chief executive Marissa Mayer and the Yahoo board.
Earlier this year Verizon snapped up internet business AOL for $4.4bn (£2.8bn).
Reports of Yahoo considering a sale of its core internet business, either in addition to or instead of spinning off its Alibaba stake, surfaced last week. The speculation sent shares in the media company surging as much as six per cent.
Speaking at the UBS Global Media conference, Shammo said: "It's just like with AOL, I mean we look at everything across this spectrum. And if we see there is a strategic fit, and it makes sense for our shareholders and we can return value, I mean we'll look at it, but at this point it's way too premature to talk about this one."