Altaba Plans To Sell Its Stake In Yahoo Japan

(RTTNews) - Altaba Inc., it's second-largest shareholder, outlined plans to sell its stake in Yahoo Japan Corp, Bloomberg reported.

Altaba Chief Executive Officer Thomas McInerney reportedly said in a conference call that the company is "moving to an active monetization mode" on its Yahoo Japan shares. The potential sale of shares will start after the end of the current fiscal year on March 31.

Altaba was created last year when Yahoo Inc.'s operations were sold to Verizon Communications Inc. for $4.5 billion. It holds the former tech giant's stakes in other companies, including about 15 percent of China's Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., about 36 percent in Yahoo Japan, cash and marketable securities, as well as certain minority investments and Excalibur IP, which owns some patent assets.

The stock sales will begin on the open market in the second quarter, McInerney said. While that is "the only option currently available," he said he would be "disappointed" if the company didn't find a more efficient path for divestment. Other options include a sale to a third party, he said.

Altaba is talking to SoftBank Group Corp., Yahoo Japan's largest shareholder, but there is no current plan in place for SoftBank to participate in the sale, McInerney reportedly said.