Yahoo dumps European shopping site
Posted
Nov 21 2008, 02:44 PM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
Yahoo shares might be creeping up today on word that the company has sold its European comparison-shopping site Kelkoo to a private equity firm. Yes, Yahoo sold it at a loss, but at least the company is looking critically at its assets and how they fit into what could be a vastly different Yahoo going forward.
Yahoo bought Kelkoo for $576 million in 2004. It reportedly sold the unit for less than $125 million to a private-equity firm in the U.K. named Jamplant.
Kelkoo's failure to grow since then is a "cultural problem," said Pierre Chappaz, Kelkoo's former chief executive, on his blog. Chappaz also twisted the knife a little more, writing about management incompetence at Yahoo.
Yahoo clearly needs to dump underperforming assets like Kelkoo, even at a loss. The move is a sign that the company is paring away unnecessary and costly distractions. There are plenty more assets to get rid of, and if Yahoo continues to do so we'll get a better idea at how serious the company is about retrenching for its future.
