It’s not that Dan Gilbert and Warren Buffett are trying to buy Yahoo and both have equity together – it’s that Gilbert’s trying to buy Yahoo, with Buffett possibly financing the deal.
That’s the news CNBC is reporting today.
“I’m an enormous admirer of Dan and what he has accomplished in Quicken Loans. Yahoo is not the type of thing I’d ever be an equity partner in. I don’t know the business and wouldn’t know how to evaluate it, but if Dan needed financing, with proper terms and protections, we would be a possible financing help.”
Berkshire Hathaway, owned by the “Oracle of Omaha” Warren Buffett, has financed takeovers of consumer foods companies Heinz and Kraft. But in those deals, Berkshire was also an equity partner in that transaction – here, reports are he’d just be the financier.
Among his many holdings such as the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team and many downtown properties, Gilbert also dabbled in media when he purchased the luxury magazine the Robb Report in 2014 for $60 million.
It was first reported on Friday that Buffett would be part of a Gilbert bid for Yahoo. on Friday that Buffett would consider helping finance Gilbert’s offer for Yahoo, and former senior Yahoo executives, according to Recode, Dan Rosensweig and Tim Cadogan have been advising Gilbert.
This is the second round of bidding for Yahoo. We’re previously written about interested parties, including Verizon.