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Yahoo has a new owner, again

Apollo Funds completes its acquisition of the venerable internet brand from Verizon.

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Apollo Global Management on Wednesday said it had completed its acquisition of Yahoo, formerly part of Verizon Media. The private equity firm in May agreed to acquire Verizon's media group -- which included brands such as Yahoo and AOL, as well as ad tech and media platform businesses -- for $5 billion. 

Yahoo will operate as a standalone company under Apollo, according to a release. The company will be led by Guru Gowrappan, who was previously the CEO of Verizon Media. Verizon will retain a 10% stake in the company.

"The close of the deal heralds an exciting time of renewed opportunity for us as a standalone entity," said Gowrappan, now CEO of Yahoo, in the release. "We anticipate that the coming months and years will bring fresh growth and innovation for Yahoo as a business and a brand, and we look forward to creating that future with our new partners."

Verizon acquired AOL in 2015 and Yahoo in 2016, paying about $9 billion for the pair. In 2017, Verizon merged AOL and Yahoo into its business, creating the media division dubbed Oath that was later rebranded to Verizon Media. The company took a $4.6 billion write-down on the merger in 2018.