Rumors that Yahoo is interested in acquiring OpenTable, the largest US online restaurant reservation service i, caused shares in the service to jump the most they have in more than two months. As of 3:30 p.m. EST, OPEN:US shares were up 5.44 percent to $45.96 per share. Through October 19, OpenTable shares had risen 11 percent for the year.
As Bloomberg details, rumors that Yahoo was interested in acquiring OpenTable started yesterday with a Reuters report that Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer had “appeared to show interest” in OpenTable as a potential target for acquisition.
OpenTable currently holds an enterprise value of about $947 million -half what it was last year. Yahoo had about $1.9 billion in cash and short term investments at the end of Q2, though that figure is thought to have grown by at least $650 billion in the past quarter following the closure of the sale of its stake in Alibaba .
