Apollo Global Management is preparing to take dot-com pioneer Yahoo public in 2027, according to two investment bankers familiar with the situation.

While Apollo has begun readying Yahoo for a potential listing, it has yet to appoint underwriters, the bankers said.

The IPO could slip into 2028 depending on the company’s readiness and broader market conditions, the first banker added.

Yahoo generates several billion dollars in annual revenue and is highly profitable, the bankers said.

The company retains a sizable consumer audience. Its portfolio includes Yahoo Finance, Yahoo Sports, Yahoo News, Yahoo Fantasy, and Yahoo Mail, as well as digital advertising technology operations.

An online trailblazer, Yahoo first went public in April 1996 and reached a market value of roughly USD 125bn at the height of the dot-com boom in 2000. After years of strategic missteps and missed opportunities, Verizon Communications acquired its core assets for USD 4.48bn in 2017 and combined them with AOL.

Apollo acquired the Yahoo-AOL portfolio in 2021 for USD 5bn and has since streamlined operations around Yahoo’s core consumer internet and advertising franchises. Verizon retained a 10% stake.

Positioning for its next chapter  

More recently, Apollo has been preparing Yahoo for life as a standalone public company, including recruiting executives with public-market experience and pruning non-core assets, the first banker said.

The company has made hires consistent with IPO preparation, including investor relations personnel, and is building a management structure suited to public-company requirements, the banker added.

Yahoo may pursue additional divestitures before a listing, likely involving non-core assets and minority investments accumulated over time, the banker said. Discussions remain preliminary and no specific assets have been identified.

The push follows several disposals under Apollo and CEO Jim Lanzone. Yahoo sold technology publication TechCrunch to Regent in March 2025 and its Rivals sports business to the ownership group behind On3 later that year. Apollo also sold AOL to Italian technology company Bending Spoons in a deal completed earlier this year. Yahoo previously divested its Edgecast business to Limelight Networks in 2022.

Adtech central to equity story

Yahoo’s demand-side platform (DSP) is expected to form a key pillar of the company’s equity story, the second banker said.

The platform enables advertisers and agencies to buy and manage digital advertising inventory across display, video, audio, and connected television channels. Its capabilities include audience targeting, machine-learning tools, and Yahoo ConnectID.

The advertising technology business could attract strategic interest as Apollo evaluates its options ahead of a potential listing, the banker said.

Yahoo has also rolled out Scout, an AI-powered search engine, as it seeks to use artificial intelligence to drive traffic across its portfolio of consumer services. The initiative could create new opportunities to monetize its audience and deepen engagement across its properties.

However, Yahoo faces intense competition in search and digital advertising from Alphabet’s Google, as well as AI platforms such as OpenAI and Anthropic.

IPO remains preferred outcome

Although a sale to a strategic buyer, strategic partnership, or partial carve-out of a business line cannot be ruled out, an IPO is currently the leading option, the bankers said.

Yahoo’s valuation would likely be benchmarked against a mix of digital media, advertising technology, and consumer internet companies. Media comparables include IAC, Ziff Davis, News Corp, and The New York Times Company, while ad-tech peers include The Trade Desk, Magnite, and DoubleVerify, the bankers said.

Broader platform comparables could include Alphabet, Meta Platforms, Reddit, and Japan’s LY Corporation, though Yahoo’s diverse business mix makes direct comparisons challenging, the bankers said.

One banker estimated Yahoo could be valued at around USD 20bn, while cautioning that a more precise valuation would depend on the company’s financial performance and market conditions at the time of a listing.

Apollo and Yahoo declined to comment.