Verizon will make a $3B second-round bid for Yahoo’s Internet business, says WSJ

Verizon may be moving closer towards purchasing Yahoo’s main Internet assets. According to a new report in the Wall Street Journal, the telecommunications giant wants to make a $3 billion second-round bid for Yahoo.

TPG, a private equity firm, also plans to submit a bid. Second-round offers are due by Monday and WSJ’s sources say Yahoo will hold at least more round of bidding. Verizon is currently seen as the leading contender after other potential buyers (including Time Inc., Alphabet, Comcast, AT&T, and IAC/InterActive Corp.) dropped out before the first round of bidding in April.

(Disclosure: Verizon owns AOL, which in turn is TechCrunch’s parent company).

The $3 billion offer Verizon is expected to make next week is lower than the $4 billion to $8 billion bids that Yahoo’s Internet business, which includes its news sites and ad business, reportedly garnered during its initial bid cycle. The WSJ says that this is because a sales presentation last month by Yahoo chief executive officer Marissa Mayer revealed that its online business—one of the main reasons Verizon is targeting an acquisition—is slowing. CNBC analyst David Faber, however, has reported that the $2 billion to $3 billion is “lower than the lowest bids” Yahoo has received..

Yahoo and Verizon declined to comment. We’ve also contacted TPG.