Verizon agrees to buy core of Yahoo for reduced $4.48B price tag following hacks

Verizon on Tuesday announced a deal to buy the core business of Yahoo for $4.48 billion — managing to secure a $350 million discount it was pursuing because of two major security breaches, the last of which affected over 1 billion accounts.

Under the terms of the deal Yahoo and Verizon will share some liabilities surrounding the hacks, which took place in 2013 and 2014, according to Reuters. Specifically, the companies will split cash liabilities linked to some lawsuits and government investigations, but Yahoo alone will be saddled with some liabilities from shareholder lawsuits and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigations.

The acquistion should close in the second quarter, pending government approval.

Though best known as a wireless provider, Verizon also owns AOL, and taking over Yahoo will not only give it a new userbase but data it can apply for targeted ads. The company is expected to merge Yahoo's ad tech, email, search, and messenger assets with AOL.

Once a giant in the internet world, in recent years Yahoo has been beleaguered not just by security issues but by difficulty remaining relevant in an industry populated by the likes of Apple, Google, and Facebook.

Last year Verizon's main rival in the wireless space, AT&T, announced plans to merge with Time Warner in a deal worth over $85 billion. That has yet to be approved, and faces some opposition given worries about dwindling competition in U.S. media and communications.