At a $17 billion valuation, which includes the value of the Alibaba stake that Yahoo would retain under the latest proposal, a deal would mean the Asian assets are worth $14 per Yahoo share, one of the sources said. The deal would essentially mean that Yahoo's core U.S.-based Internet business is valued at only $2 a share, according to Lawrence Haverty, a fund manager with GAMCO investors, which owns Yahoo shares. Given that Yahoo has roughly $2 a share in cash on its balance sheet, Haverty said the deal left plenty of room for upside in the core business. "This is the right thing to do. This is how you maximize shareholder value," he said, noting that he believed the tax-free structure of the plan seemed feasible. TAX-FREE DEAL Alibaba chief Jack Ma has said several times he would like to buy back Yahoo's stake in his company, one of Asia's largest Internet corporations.