Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Chief Executive Officer David Denison said the fund is evaluating Yahoo! Inc. as a potential investment opportunity.
“We, like many people, are looking at Yahoo,” Denison said today in a telephone interview from Toronto. “We’ll see if there is a compelling investment thesis there at good attractive valuations.”
Yahoo, the largest U.S. Web portal, embarked on a strategic review of its options after the ouster of CEO Carol Bartz in September. The shares have since climbed 24 percent, fueled by takeover speculation. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Softbank Corp. are talking with private-equity funds about making a bid for Yahoo, without the company’s blessing, people with knowledge of the matter said this week.
Denison declined to say whether his Toronto-based fund is involved in any bid. Canada Pension is the country’s second- biggest public-pension manager, overseeing C$152.3 billion ($150 billion) in assets as of Sept. 30.
Shares of Sunnyvale, California-based Yahoo climbed 8 cents to $16 at 2:05 p.m. New York time today.
The Wall Street Journal reported last month that private- equity firm Silver Lake is working with Canada Pension and Microsoft Corp. to put together a proposal to buy Yahoo. The newspaper cited unnamed people familiar with the matter.
© Copyright 2013 Bloomberg News. All rights reserved.