YELP - Yelp climbs after activist unveils push for company sale

2023-05-23 07:45:17 ET

Yelp ( NYSE: YELP ) rose 10% in premarket trading after an activist investor confirmed a state in the user recommendation site and wants the company to explore alternatives, including a sale.

TCS Capital Management built a more than 4% stake in Yelp ( YELP ) and argues that Yelp could be sold to a strategic or private-equity firm, for at least $70 a share, a 120% premium to its stock price, the investor wrote in a letter to the Yelp board on Tuesday.

TCS Capital Founder and President Eric Semler also believes Yelp ( YELP ) could evaluate a tax-free merger with rival Angi ( NASDAQ: ANGI ). Angi shares rose 4.1% in premarket trading.

Semler also said TCS Capital itself is willing to make a bid to acquire Yelp. The TCS group includes a "major operating executive" with many years of experience as the CEO of a public company in the same business as Yelp.

"The purpose of this public letter is to express our serious concern and disappointment with the abysmal performance of Yelp’s stock price and to demand that the Board immediately explore strategic alternatives" Semler wrote in the letter.

The news was earlier reported by the WSJ.

Yelp ( YELP ) is scheduled to present at the JPMorgan Tech, Media and Telecom conference on Tuesday

More on Yelp

• Yelp: A Stagnant Performance Leads To Stagnant Investment Returns
• Yelp Q1 results beat estimates, co raises FY 2023 revenue guidance
• Yelp: Appears Expensive With A Small Moat

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