Deals and IPOs

Yahoo discussed buying Scripps Networks: Report

Marissa Mayer
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Yahoo executives considered buying cable network Scripps Networks Interactive, but a deal seems unlikely anytime soon, Business Insider reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.

Following Alibaba's 2014 IPO, CEO Marissa Mayer and other Yahoo leaders expected to have billions from the company's stake in the Chinese Internet retailer that they could use to buy a media firm such as the $10 billion Scripps, according to Business Insider's Nicholas Carlson.

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Initial talks to acquire Scripps' Food Network brand subsequently expanded to involve all of the parent company, a Yahoo source said, according to Carlson, author of the forthcoming book "Marissa Mayer and the Fight to Save Yahoo!"

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A Scripps spokesman, Dylan Jones, told CNBC: "It's company policy not to comment on speculation like this." Yahoo did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment.

Read the full Business Insider report here.

Disclosure: CNBC has a content-sharing partnership with Yahoo's finance site.