After the Securities and Exchange Commission launched an investigation into whether Yahoo's two recent data breaches should have been reported to investors earlier, the company's $4.8 billion acquisition by Verizon has been delayed, according to The Wall Street Journal and CNBC.
In September 2016, Yahoo revealed it suffered a data breach in 2014 that affected 500 million users. In December 2016, Yahoo disclosed it was the victim of an August 2013 data breach that affected more than 1 billion users.
Per the SEC's current guidelines, companies must disclose potential IT risks as soon as they're determined to have an effect on investors. The SEC investigation is in its infant stages, according to WSJ.
CNBC reported Verizon's acquisition of Yahoo is still on but has been pushed back to the second quarter.
Although Verizon initially predicted the acquisition would close within the first quarter of this year, Yahoo recently said the deal will close "as soon as practicable" in Q2 due to the "work required to meet closing conditions."
"We are still working with Yahoo to assess the impact of the breaches, and we have not reached any final conclusions yet," Verizon Executive Vice President and CFO Matt Ellis said, according to CNBC.