Yahoo Gets Approval for $1.1 Billion Deal for Tumblr

The board of directors at Yahoo have been given the go ahead for the acquisition of microblogging platform and social networking website; Tumblr.

The Wall Street Journal reports a $1.1 Billion cash deal for the company and will see the site continuing to operate as an independant business, though no word has been seen that Tumblr’s board of directors have accepted the deal, but we can’t see any reason why they wouldn’t.

Initial rumours about the buyout started to surface just before the weekend, stating that the weekend was a prime opportunity for major discussions about the acquisition headed up by fairly new president and CEO of Yahoo, Marissa Mayer. With Mayer in charge of the company, many other startup companies have been involved in deals with Yahoo since her appointment including Stamped and Summly and word on the street is that the companies have been acquired to increase Yahoo’s talent in the hope of securing a larger user base and new advertisers alike.

No official statements have been made by either Tumblr or Yahoo as of yet, but at the time of writing this, we are still very much at the heart of the weekend, and we could maybe expect something official to the press and general public at the start of the working week, especially as Yahoo are planning to hold a large press conference in New York.

What we know so far is that if the acquisition does go ahead, the Tumblr will continue, even with backing from Yahoo as promised by CEO Marissa Mayer in a initial hands off approach to the company.

Stay tuned to eTeknix as this story develops.

Image courtesy of eTeknix composite