Yahoo! plans to move European HQ to Geneva

by Alex Donohue, Brand Republic 14-Mar-08, 09:00

LONDON - Yahoo! is planning to move its European headquarters out of London to Geneva, reportedly for corporate tax reasons, and has told senior managers to relocate or face being let go.

The move from London to the Swiss tax haven is expected to take place over the next 18 months and could affect around 700 of Yahoo!'s UK employees. The company has denied the move is for tax reasons, stating the transferral is to improve efficiency and competitiveness.

Yahoo!'s proposed move will come as a blow to the UK digital industry, while around 70 senior managers at the company have reportedly been given 30 days to decide whether to leave for Geneva or face losing their jobs.

The move marks a further shake-up of Yahoo!'s European operations, having said in November it would consider selling off or closing down underperforming areas and non-core assets if it failed to make substantial financial improvements by the end of the first quarter of 2008.

The news follows a turbulent week at Yahoo!, which held talks with Microsoft on Monday to discuss a possible takeover of the company. It is believed to be the first meeting between the two companies since Microsoft made its unsolicited $42bn (£20.7bn) offer in January, which Yahoo! rejected out of hand.

If Yahoo!'s relocation of its European operations to Switzerland goes ahead, the company would join arch rival Google, which recently moved its European engineering head quarters to Zurich.

In a press statement, Yahoo! said the decision to relocate had been made "to increase competitiveness, deliver financial results, performance and efficiencies" and denied it was for tax reasons.

In January, Yahoo! announced plans to axe hundreds of jobs from its global operations in the next 12 months as part of an attempt to improve profits and bolster its share price.