(credit: Clever Cupcakes)

Verizon has confirmed earlier reports that it will buy ailing Internet pioneer Yahoo in an all-cash deal with a price tag of nearly £3.7 billion (~$4.8 billion).

The sale doesn’t include Yahoo’s shares in Alibaba, Verizon said. Yahoo’s Japan shares, its non-core patents, and minority investments are also set to be cut loose from the planned takeover.

Those assets will form part of a new publicly traded company that will be spun out of Yahoo as a separate business. It’s unclear who will head up that firm, however.