Yahoo may seek sale of Japan stake

Yahoo is consider selling its stake in Yahoo Japan as a way to maximize value for shareholders, a Dow Jones report said, quoting local media.

'Your board takes seriously its obligation to examine all value-creating steps it could take and continues to actively examine many of these now, including a potential spin-off of our Asia assets and a return of cash to stockholders,' chairman Roy Bostock and CEO Jerry Yang said in the letter, which was sent ahead of the company's general shareholders' meeting on August 1.

The letter was apparently referring to Yahoo's 33% equity holding in the Japanese subsidiary and alibaba.com, a company which operates internet business in China, the Dow Jones report further said.

The letter sent by the Yahoo board is designed to urge shareholders to vote against a proposal made by Microsoft and billionaire investor Carl Icahn, the report added.