Yelp, the company behind consumer review site yelp.com, has temporarily decided not to sell, reports Bloomberg and citing people familiar with the matter.
The company hired Goldman Sachs Group to find a buyer, and there have been several interested parties, however they have put a hold on the move.
Yelp decides against a sale
When the news broke, Yelp shares fell by up to 15% to a two year low of just over $36Â earlier this week. Yelp had a market cap of around $3.2 billion by close of play on Wednesday.
Yelp may however pursue a sale at a later date if CEO Jeremy Stoppelman changes his mind, says Bloomberg. The report did not name any of the suitors or indeed give reasons why Stoppelman took the decision to halt the process now.
Yelp was working with bankers to look at a sale that would potentially fetch around $2.5 billion, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal in May.
The company’s growth in subscribers had been slowing recently in a heated US market, and it’s been attempting to expand internationally and diversify into restaurant bookings, events and payments…
SOURCE: Reuters.
Larry Banks is a keen follower of technology and finance. He has worked for a variety of online publications, writing about a diverse range of topics including mobile networks, patents, and Internet video delivery technologies.