Daily Tech Snippet: Wednesday, January 11

• How Yahoo came up with its new name: Altaba: Yahoo was already a shell of its former self. Now part of the company is getting an obscure new name: Altaba. When Verizon agreed to buy the company for $4.8 billion in July, it planned to purchase just Yahoo's core Internet businesses, which include its email service, sports verticals and various apps. What's left of the embattled technology company would essentially be its ownership in the very valuable Chinese Internet giant Alibaba. When the deal closes, the remaining part will change its name to Altaba, the company announced in security filings on Monday. The sale is expected to be completed by late March, Yahoo said. The new name is meant to be a combination of the words “alternative and Alibaba,” Today Yahoo owns roughly 15 percent of Alibaba, holdings that are worth about $35 billion. The idea behind the name is that Altaba’s stock can now be tracked as an alternative to Alibaba because Yahoo owns a sizable chunk of the Chinese company. The name change reflects just how far Yahoo has fallen. The company that was once an Internet giant and is still the third most visited Web property in the United States is now essentially a vehicle for holding Alibaba's stock. The new company, which will be publicly traded and until now has been referred to as RemainCo in security filings, also owns a 35.5 percent stake in Yahoo Japan, the company’s Japanese affiliate, and Yahoo’s cash, as well as a patent portfolio that is being sold off in a separate auction.

• Snapchat becomes latest tech firm to pick London despite Brexit: Messaging app Snapchat said it would make London the home of its international operations, delivering another vote of confidence in Britain's tech standing as the country prepares to leave the European Union. The company, which has 150 million daily users globally, will book sales in countries where it has no local entity in Britain rather than routing them through lower tax jurisdictions like Ireland and Luxembourg as some other U.S. tech companies do. Snap Inc, which plans to go public this year in the biggest U.S. stock market debt since 2014, said the UK's strong creative industries made the country "a great place to build a global business". Despite the uncertainty sparked by the Brexit vote, London has remained attractive to global tech firms due to its pool of talent in the creative and tech sectors, many of whom have come from Europe and further afield. The city's position as a global financial hub also provides access to funding for start ups and capital for larger companies.