Daily Mail Publisher In Talks To Buy Yahoo

The publisher of the Daily Mail is in talks with private equity companies about a takeover of web giant Yahoo (Hanover: YHO.HA - news) .

The fading internet firm put its core business up for sale in February and bids are due by the end of this week.

Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) - the parent company of the Daily Mail - says it has approached firms interested in a bid.

The potential deal was first reported in the Wall Street Journal, which described two possible scenarios.

The first would see a private-equity partner get Yahoo's core web business, with the Mail controlling the news and media arms.

A second would see a private-equity firm buy Yahoo's web business and merge it with the Mail's online offering.

DMGT has been rapidly expanding its operations in the US, with a hiring spree and the acquisition of news site Elite Daily.

It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) is also moving into TV with a syndicated show featuring Phil McGraw, better-known as Dr Phil.

A spokesman for DMGT said: "Given the success of dailymail.com and Elite Daily, we have been in discussions with a number of parties who are potential bidders (for Yahoo).

"Discussions are at a very early stage and there is no certainty that any transaction will take place."

Yahoo's core services include Yahoo Mail, plus its news and sports sites.

It was once one of the most powerful websites around, but has been overtaken by the likes of Google, Amazon and Facebook (NasdaqGS: FB - news) .

But despite falling out of fashion, it still attracts around 210 million visitors every month in the US alone.