The list of private-equity firms circling Yahoo! is getting longer.
PE giant KKR & Co. is among the parties interested in either taking Yahoo! private or helping finance a deal if the struggling Internet pioneer decides to go that route, The Post has learned.
According to sources, KKR co-founder George Roberts is friendly with Yahoo’s co-founder and former CEO Jerry Yang, who managed to fend off a takeover offer from Microsoft in 2008.
KKR’s interest is separate from that of other private-equity firms that have held preliminary discussions with AOL about a possible tie-up with larger rival Yahoo!
Yahoo! hired Goldman Sachs in mid-October to handle takeover approaches. AOL has reportedly talked with private-equity funds Silver Lake and Blackstone about a bid.
Whether talks will lead to a deal remains to be seen, but one Silicon Valley insider said it is a matter of time before Yahoo! is forced to make a move.
“The Valley is convinced Yahoo! will be sold. The blood is in the water,” said the insider. “Yahoo! is in play.”
Under a stalled turnaround led by CEO Carol Bartz, the company is struggling to compete with Google and Facebook. Yahoo! has suffered a massive brain drain, including three of its top managers bolting in September.
Once the reigning champion of Internet ad sales, Yahoo! has yet to hire a sales chief to replace Joanne Bradford, who jumped to Demand Media in March.
Meanwhile, the company’s strained relations with key shareholders and Asian partners are leading some observers to conclude they can do better a job — with or without Bartz.
There are hurdles for private equity, however. Any bid for Yahoo! would have to be in the region of $25 billion, according to sources, which is a big number for any private-equity firm to raise on its own. There are also tax implications in the event of a breakup.
One executive also questioned whether PE firms would see big returns from a Web 1.0 company whose best days appear to be behind it.
“When you’re looking at down numbers at AOL and not very up numbers at Yahoo!, you have to wonder why private equity would invest.”
In general, PE firms have steered clear of big Internet plays because the speed of change in the sector. Yahoo!, however, may be different because of the value of its Asian assets.