Time considering acquisition of Yahoo´s core business

The US publisher, which owned some of the best-known titles in the world, including People, Sports Illustrated or Time magazine, had heard a presentation from Citigroup pitching such a deal.

However, Citigroup was not retained, Bloomberg said.

Citigroup had proposed employing a so-called Reverse Morris Trust transaction, under which a company merges with another one which has been 'spun-off', allowing the deal to be tax-free.

Such a combination would follow other moves by Time to scoop up online properties in a bid to boost its digital presence and advertising dollars.

As of 14:06 stock in Yahoo was advancing 0.45% to $31.31 per share in pre-market trades, while those in Time were up by 2.14% to $14.33 on the NYSE.