Yahoo in talks to buy YouTube-like video site Dailymotion

SAN FRANCISCO -- Yahoo Inc. is in talks with France Telecom to buy a majority stake in Dailymotion, an online video site popular in Europe that has been scouting for a U.S. partner to take on Google Inc.’s YouTube.

If completed, it would be Chief Executive Marissa Mayer’s first major acquisition since taking over Yahoo last summer.

Under the ownership structure being discussed, Yahoo could buy as much as 75% of Dailymotion with the possibility of buying the rest of the site at a later date, the Wall Street Journal reported. The deal would value Dailymotion at around $300 million.

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Spokespeople for Yahoo and France Telecom declined to comment.

Dailymotion is hoping that selling a majority stake to a U.S. partner will help boost distribution, content and marketing deals. The addition of the largest streaming video site after YouTube would give Yahoo a major presence in Web video outside the U.S.

France Telecom bought Dailymotion in a two-part agreement over the course of two years for $168 million. Dailymotion editorial and executive management operate independently of France Telecom. Dailymotion had 112 million unique visits and 2.5 billion page views in January, according to research firm ComScore.

At a recent technology conference, Mayer said video “is going to be very important to our strategy.” Last July, Yahoo struck a syndication deal with Dailymotion.

Google has said YouTube represents a major growth opportunity for the Internet giant.

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