The parent company of the Daily Mail is in talks with private equity firms for a possible bid for Yahoo.
"Given the success of DailyMail.com and Elite Daily we have been in discussions with a number of parties who are potential bidders," a DailyMail.com spokesman told CNBC on Monday. "Discussions are at a very early stage and there is no certainty that any transaction will take place. We have no further comment at this time. Further updates will be provided as appropriate."
Yahoo declined to comment when contacted by CNBC.
The early talks between Daily Mail and Yahoo were initially reported by The Wall Street Journal.
The Journal reported that the Daily Mail & General Trust — the parent company of the Daily Mail, which runs a daily newspaper plus one of the world's biggest tabloid-style news sites — was one of about 40 companies to have expressed interest in Yahoo. The Daily Mail has not yet met with Yahoo executives, the WSJ said.
The WSJ also said that Yahoo, which put itself on the block in February after a four-year turnaround effort by chief executive Marissa Mayer largely proved unsuccessful, had spoken to bidders including telecoms company Verizon Communications as well as broadcaster CBS and U.S. media and internet company InterActiveCorp.
The web portal last week extended the deadline for bids from Aug. 11 to Aug.18.
Brian Wieser, senior research analyst at Pivotal Research Group, said the entry of potential new bidders has not changed his outlook on the sale process. There are dozens of companies that can both plausibly claim they can run Yahoo's core business better and raise the capital necessary to follow through with a bid, he told CNBC's"Squawk Box."
However, the Yahoo board's expectations in regards to what the current management can accomplish might cause them to put such a high valuation on the company that no one can pay what it is seeking, he added. In that case, nothing may get done unless a turnover of the board occurs.
There is certainly value in Yahoo, but the question is how much, Wieser said.
"It's possible that there will be a so-called dumb buyer who will overpay massively and will cause the board to have to pay attention," he said. "I think the disciplined buyer will know that this is hard and the business is not worth very much."
Wieser values Yahoo's core business, excluding the company's cash on hand, at about $3 per share, or roughly $2.5 billion. He said he expects Yahoo will have to spend about $800 million per year to achieve a "teeny, tiny bit of growth."
Disclosure: CNBC has a content-sharing partnership with Yahoo's finance site.
