Yahoo announced Wednesday that it would spin off its core business into a separate, publicly traded company, a move that could make its popular but tired Web properties more attractive to suitors.

Members of Yahoo’s board said in a statement that they were abandoning a previous plan to spin off Yahoo’s massive and valuable stake in Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce company, amid concerns that the deal would incur steep taxes on Yahoo. Those shares are estimated to be worth $35 billion.

Instead, company officials said they were exploring a “reverse spin-off” of Yahoo’s substantial Web properties, which include search, email, media and advertising units. By creating a separate company, the value of those businesses would be more apparent to investors — and easier to sell.

“A separation from our Alibaba stake, via the reverse spin, will provide more transparency into the value of Yahoo’s business,” said chief executive Marissa Mayer.

Their stake in Alibaba has long been the most valuable part of the company. If they sell it to finance the rest of their businesses, Yahoo would be faced with crippling taxes on the capital gain. No choice, really.