Yahoo board says there is no plan to sell the company

Yahoo made waves of Wednesday by announcing a plan for a complex "reverse spin" in which the company's core internet business will be spun off into a separate publicly traded company. But that does not mean that the core business is for sale.

"There is no determination by the board to sell the company or any part of it," Yahoo Chairman Maynard Webb said on a conference call to discuss the spin off with analysts and investors on Wednesday morning.

The board believes that Yahoo remains undervalued and the board is focused on "unlocking" that value, Webb said.

Asked by an analyst why selling the business would not unlock value, Webb responded that the board thought the best path forward was to revitalize Yahoo's struggling internet business.

"We believe that we are undervalued and that the best path to unlocking that value is by separating the Alibaba assets from our business and also by turning around the performance in our operating businesses, which we are very determined on doing," Webb said.

The company also stressed that it was backing CEO Marissa Mayer, who has been trying to mount a comeback for more than three years with little to show for it.

The board has "complete confidence" in the leadership team at Yahoo, Webb said.