Reports: Verizon said to be buyer of Yahoo for $5 billion

NEW YORK -- Verizon has agreed to buy online portal Yahoo Inc. for about $5 billion, according to multiple media reports, each citing a single unnamed source.

The deal is expected to be announced formally today before markets open, the reports stated.

Verizon had emerged in recent days as the front-runner for the beleaguered internet company.

Yahoo is expected to sell its email service and news, finance and sports websites in addition to its advertising tools under pressure from shareholders fed up with a downturn in the company's revenue during the past eight years.

The deal likely will end the four-year reign of Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, a former Google executive who flopped in her attempts to turn around the Sunnyvale, California, company.

Yahoo has been in a long, deep slump even as advertisers have been pouring more money into what now is a $160 billion market for digital advertising, according to research firm eMarketer.

Most of that money has been flowing to Google and Facebook.

Yahoo declined to comment on the reports. A spokesman for Verizon did not return requests for comment.