Around 1,000 employees could be laid off at Verizon’s Oath, the business unit unveiled in April which will handle the combination of its AOL business with assets from Yahoo once a $4.48 billion deal to acquire core assets from the latter closes.

The jobs cuts were expected because the companies will likely have an overlap in departments including human resources and marketing, Recode reported. (Update, 4pm BST: Later reports from multiple news outlets pegged the number of layoffs at around 2,100, or 15 per cent of the combined workforce).

A shareholder meeting to approve the Yahoo deal is scheduled to take place today (8 June).

Verizon sealed its deal to acquire Yahoo’s core internet business in February. It acquired AOL in 2015 for $4.4 billion, and aims to leverage the investments to boost its mobile media and advertising efforts in a shift away from relying solely on its traditional telecoms operations.