Having this on the balance sheet as cash could make them an easier take-over target. Only a handful of technology companies have the means and justification fo

Having this on the balance sheet as cash could make them an easier take-over target. Only a handful of technology companies have the means and justification for acquiring Yahoo! but with cash on the balance sheet it would be much easier for a smaller company to raise finance (i.e. get a loan which would be paid back very quickly, by releasing the cash back to the financier, opposed what was the case of waiting and waiting for Alibaba to get listed). How fast Yahoo! can see the cash is another matter, as there's some history of bad blood between Alibaba and Yahoo!