Yahoo’s board has approved the deal to acquire blogging and social networking site Tumblr for $1.1bn.
The acquisition, which would be CEO Marissa Mayer’s largest deal since joining Yahoo July 2012, would boost Yahoo’s social media presence and attract a younger audience to help the company compete against Internet rivals, Google and Facebook, according to AllThingsD.
After being acquired by Yahoo, the blogging and social networking site will operate as an independent business.
Launched in 2007 by David Karp, Tumblr currently hosts 108 million blogs, with a total of 50.7 billion posts in 12 languages and about 175 employees.
The deal follows Yahoo’s recent failed attempt to acquire a controlling stake in French video site Dailymotion, owned by France Télécom.
Yahoo, under Mayer’s leadership, has acquired about ten start-ups, including Stamped, Summly, Astrid, Jybe and OnTheAir.
The internet major is also eyeing acquisition of online video website Hulu, which has also gained interests from Amazon.
