Yahoo to Spin Off Small Business Unit With Alibaba Stake

Yahoo Small Business helps small enterprises set up and run their businesses online.

Yahoo announced last week about a tax-free spinoff of its 15 percent stake in China's Alibaba into a newly formed independent registered investment company responding to pressure to hand over to shareholders its prized e-commerce investment valued at roughly $40 billion (roughly Rs. 2,46,582 crores).

Yahoo had then said the new entity would include its 384 million shares in Alibaba as well as an unspecified "legacy, ancillary" Yahoo unit.

The transaction is expected to occur in Q4 2015. The unit will move to SpinCo prior to completion of the transaction.

"We're mapping out additional investments now for our platform and services," Yahoo Small Business said on its Tumblr page on Tuesday.

We remain 100 percent committed to providing the highest level of service possible to you, our loyal customers, whose businesses rely on our products and services. We'll be investing in Yahoo Small Business infrastructure and operations, reflecting our ongoing commitment to your success.

Here are some of the details around the transition, which we'll continue to update over the coming weeks and months:

• All of the Yahoo Small Business tools and services that you have come to rely on will remain at your disposal. In fact, we're mapping out additional investments now for our platform and services to ensure the highest level of support for our customers and our partners.
• Our Yahoo Small Business employees will be invited to join the new company.
• We are developing a plan for key investments into Yahoo Small Business's infrastructure and organization. We're in the process of working out the details now; stay tuned for more.
• We expect that the completion of the transaction will occur in Q4 2015. Yahoo Small Business will move to the new company prior to the completion of the transaction.

Written with inputs from Reuters