Yahoo Inc could be weeks away from selling 15 to 25 percent

Yahoo Inc could be weeks away from selling 15 to 25 percent of Alibaba Group’s stock back to China’s largest e-commerce company, in a deal designed to eliminate complexities that had scuttled the parties’ previous negotiations, a person familiar with the matter said.

Numerous discussions have been held in recent years about a deal for Alibaba to reclaim some or all of the 40 percent stake in the company that Yahoo acquired in 2005.

A $17 billion tax-free asset swap between the two companies fell apart in February.

The latest deal would not be tax-free and would be much more straightforward, the person told Reuters on Friday.

The situation may have become more complicated following Thursday’s revelation that Yahoo Chief Executive Scott Thompson’s resume falsely stated that he had earned a computer science degree in college.

Yahoo, which initially called it an “inadvertent error,” has since said its board is reviewing the matter.

Source Yahoo.com