Report : TPG Among Three Buyout Groups To Make Final Yahoo Round

(RTTNews) - Private equity suitors TPG, Advent International Corp. and a partnership of Sycamore Partners and Vector Capital Management are into the final round of bidding for Yahoo Inc. (YHOO), Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the matter.

The three buyout groups join Verizon Communications Inc., AT&T Inc. and Quicken Loans Inc. founder Dan Gilbert in the last weeks of the bidding process, with each vying to win Yahoo's core Internet business, as well as some of its intellectual property and real estate assets.

The report indicated that all of the offers value Yahoo from about $4 billion to $6 billion except for Verizon. Verizon's bid was lower -- from $3.75 billion to $4 billion -- because it doesn't include Yahoo's patents and real estate. Verizon would be willing to acquire both additional assets.

The bids are difficult to compare because each includes a different amount of Yahoo's intellectual property. Assessing offers for different assets extended the auction period, the report said.

Buyout firm TPG offered from $5 billion to $6 billion for Yahoo's core internet business, patents and real estate holdings. TPG, which sees itself as Yahoo's best chance to turn around a struggling business, has had preliminary talks with strategic partners, although it continues to bid alone, the report said.

The report noted that a winning bidder for some combination of Yahoo's assets will probably be chosen early next month.