Yahoo agrees price cut on Verizon deal following hacks - reports

Internet firm Yahoo Inc. has reportedly agreed renegotiated terms on its agreement to have its core internet operations taken over by telecoms giant Verizon Communications, including a price cut of the original value of the deal.

The initial $4.8bn sale to Verizon was questioned after revelations of millions accounts being hacked , including usernames, passwords and e-mail addresses.

Several reports say that as much as $350.0m could be taken off the total price of the agreement, which was agreed in 2016.

Yahoo admitted in December that it was hit by a large cyber attack in 2013 which affected as many as one billion account holders, in addition to another breach in 2014 which saw 500m affected.

Verizon were allegedly unhappy that they were not briefed on the issues before the deal was signed off, with the Securities and Exchange Commission launching an investigation into whether Yahoo should have informed investors of the breach sooner.

The closure of the acquisition was pushed back after an announcement from Yahoo in its fourth quarter earnings report in January, citing "work required to meet closing conditions".

Verizon's shares were 0.64% higher in pre-market trading as of 12:08 GMT, while Yahoo was flat after finishing Wednesday 1.4% higher in the NASDAQ index.