Yahoo Japan, Yahoo Inc end talks on share buyback

Yahoo Japan Corp's talks with key shareholder Yahoo Inc for a share buyback have ended with no agreement, but the companies left open the possibility of further negotiations, Yahoo Japan's chief financial officer Toshiki Ohya said on Tuesday.

"We want to positively consider resuming negotiations if the conditions are right," Ohya told reporters.

Yahoo Inc's chief executive, Scott Thompson, said last week the plan to sell its stake in Yahoo Japan has been plagued by a "valuation gap" that the parties have failed to bridge.

Yahoo Inc, under pressure to free up cash for shareholders and simplify its ownership structure, has been looking for more than a year to monetize its stake in Yahoo Japan, which was formed as a joint venture between the U.S. Internet pioneer and Japan's Softbank Corp in 1996.

(Reporting by Reiji Murai, Writing by Yoko Kubota; Editing by Edmund Klamann and Matt Driskill)
Reuters