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Art by Tom Dotan.
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Yahoo Deal Shows Relative Value of Advisers

Photo: Art by Tom Dotan.

If Yahoo’s auction holds any lessons for other tech companies considering selling themselves, it may be this: When it comes to advisers, less is more.

A stunning 15 investment banks and law firms were involved with Yahoo’s $4.8 billion sale to Verizon, according to the companies. In contrast, Microsoft’s $26.2 billion purchase of LinkedIn involved only five advisers, while SoftBank’s $32 billion purchase of ARM Holdings involved 11.

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From left, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis and Google Brain chief Jeff Dean. Photos by Getty, Bloomberg
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