Yelp Inc., which hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to find a buyer, has temporarily decided not to pursue a sale, people with knowledge of the matter said.
The consumer-review website has had several interested suitors but isn’t pursuing a transaction in the immediate future, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. San Francisco-based Yelp may pursue a deal again if co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Stoppelman changes his mind, one of the people said.
Yelp has a market capitalization of about $3.1 billion. The company’s shares have slumped 17 percent since May 8, the day after Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal reported Yelp was working with a bank to explore a sale. Yelp hired Goldman Sachs after receiving takeover interest, one of the people said.