Yahoo to hold special event in NYC on Monday

Yahoo has been in the news a lot lately with its reported interest in acquiring both two big Internet properties: Hulu and Tumblr.

Now news has come out that the company is holding a “product-related” special event on Monday.

— CNBC (@CNBC) May 17, 2013

“Product-related” would seem to be a pretty broad term, and one that could mean basically anything. Without any further details, though, all we can do is speculate. And speculate we shall!

Yahoo’s purchase of Tumblr seems to be on the fast track. The VERY fast track.

News of Yahoo’s interest was first reported just a day or two ago, but the company is already set to hold a meeting on Sunday to approve the $1.1 billion all-cash deal, according to a report from AllThingsD.

CEO Marissa Mayer has reportedly been interested in Tumblr since her Google days, where she kept a close eye on the rapid growth of the super trendy mixed-media blogging service/social networking site. Tumblr has proven to be a huge hit with the kids. While only 6% of all adult Internet users frequent Tumblr, among 18- to 29-year-olds, that number jumps to 13%.

While Tumblr has also been fielding offers from Facebook and Microsoft as well, Yahoo can stop a bidding war from taking place simply by making an offer, as it is currently negotiating with Tumblr under a lockup, according to Forbes. 

So, theoretically, the deal could be done by Monday, and that could be what Yahoo is planning to announce at the event. Also, Tumblr is located in New York City. Coincidence? Perhaps.

Yahoo has also been reportedly showing some interest in buying Hulu, though it sounds like that deal is not quite as far along as the Tumblr deal is.

Mayer and top executives at Hulu have already begun meeting and talking to each other about a possible acquisition, but the deal does not seem to be imminent.

Yahoo came much closer to buying up DailyMotion, even signing a provisional deal to buy control of the online-video website from France Télécom SA, before the French government stepped in and sunk the deal. 

Competition for Hulu is also going to be fiercer, with Time Warner also getting into the game, along with Former News Corp. COO Peter Chernin; Guggenheim Partners, which is led by former Yahoo interim CEO Ross Levinsohn; and Amazon.

If either deal was going the be announced at the event, an acquisition of Tumblr seems like the more likely of the two at this point.

Yahoo has been a giant spending spree over the past nine months or so, buying up eight startups since October:  Stamped, OnTheAir, Alike, Jybe, Summly, Astrid, GoPollGo and MileWise.

But those are small acquisitions, and Mayer is said to want to make a big purchase to really put her stamp on the company.

And on Monday we could find out that she has finally been able to achieve her dream. 

Yahoo could not be reached for further comment regarding details of the event. We will update is we hear anything more. 

(Image source: http://allthingsd.com)