Yahoo, Amazon, Dreamworks Animation and Liberty Media are reportedly among suitors queuing up to buy Vevo, the largest provider of music videos online.
The company, along with its bankers, is taking meetings with several media and technology companies, according to The Information.
If true, it's a sudden change in direction for Vevo, which this spring hired Goldman Sachs and Raine Group to develop a strategic plan and talk to companies interested in taking either a minority stake or controlling interest in the provider.
Vevo routinely places high in online video viewership rankings. A recent report by comScore said it had 37.9 million unique viewers in April. It is also "on track to post about $350 million in revenue this year," The Information story said, citing unnamed sources.
The music video giant is the top multichannel network on YouTube and is also partnered with Yahoo to present videos and live events through Yahoo Screen.
Yahoo could be a top bidder for Vevo--it's struggling to build a strong presence with Yahoo Screen, offering news, original series and live events like concerts to users. But its music-streaming partnership with Vevo failed to generate much user interest, and the two parties reworked their deal in April.
Still, Vevo could have as much success being bought as Hulu did--that is, no sale could happen. Despite having committed investors and a standalone Web presence with hulu.com, the online video provider could not work out a deal with potential suitors.
"By contrast, Vevo's major outside investor, Abu Dhabi Media, wields relatively little influence, according to people who have looked at buying Vevo. That left the company at the mercy of the record-label owners who have been mainly interested in protecting and extending their legacy businesses," wrote Amir Efrati and Tom Dotan in The Information story.
For more:
- The Information has this story
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