Yahoo shares up nearly 2%; Softbank, Time Inc. reportedly interested

Investors bid up Yahoo shares Monday after two reports indicated new parties interested in potentially buying parts of the troubled Net company.

Yahoo (YHOO) shares were up 1.5% Monday to $37.02, running counter to the rest of the Nasdaq, which was down 0.45%.

The Web search pioneer has been pressured by activist investors to sell its core assets after it abandoned plans for a tax-free spin-off of its stake in Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba. Yahoo is giving interested parties until Monday,

The Wall Street Journal has reported, to submit bids for assets such as Yahoo Mail, Yahoo Sports and Tumblr.

Time Inc. is the latest name to join the ranks of companies interested in Yahoo, which continues to draw more than 1 billion users monthly to its properties. That traffic has led Time to consider partnering with a private equity firm on a bid, according to Reuters, which Monday cited people familiar with the matter.

Last week, reports surfaced that Microsoft may help finance a purchase of Yahoo by a private equity firm. Other companies said to be interested in Yahoo are Verizon, AT&T, Comcast and Alibaba.

And a New York Post report Monday suggests that Softbank is interested in Yahoo’s stakes in Alibaba and Yahoo Japan, a Yahoo-Softbank joint venture.

The Japanese telecommunications firm owns 38.4% of Yahoo Japan, which it cofounded with Yahoo in 1996. Yahoo owns 35.5%. Softbank also has a 32% stake in Alibaba (BABA); Yahoo has 15%.

Shares in Yahoo have been up 18% so far this year but had fallen 15% over the past 12 months.