Verizon's still not sure if $4.8 billion Yahoo deal will close, five months after announcing it
That's according to Verizon's executive VP Marni Walden, who was asked at an investor event on Thursday if the company would proceed with the initial deal.
"Unfortunately, I can't sit here today and say with confidence one way or the other because we still don't know," Walden said, according to the WSJ.
Walden's comment comes just a couple of weeks after Yahoo disclosed a data breach of 1 billion user accounts dating back to 2013. That's in addition to the 500 million compromised accounts that Yahoo announced in September.
This isn't the first time Verizon expressed concerns over the Yahoo deal. In October, Verizon lawyers said the data breach could have "material" impact on the deal, while Bloomberg reported that the company is even considering scrapping the deal entirely.
Yahoo also acknowledged the possibility of Verizon backing out for the first time in its quarterly filing in November, saying it "may seek to terminate" the agreement "as a result of facts relating to the Security Incident."
Walden, however, reiterated that the "merits of that transaction still make sense," according to the WSJ, while AOL CEO Tim Armstrong was also quoted as saying he's "hopeful" the deal will go through.
When asked about Walden's comment, Yahoo's representative said, "We are confident in Yahoo's value and we continue to work towards integration with Verizon."
Verizon's representative declined to comment.