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Verizon is buying AOL for $4.4 billion in cash

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Funky Papa

FUNK-Y-PPA-4
This is just in.

Taking another significant step in building digital and video platforms to drive future growth, Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ) today announced the signing of an agreement to purchase AOL Inc. (NYSE: AOL) for $50 per share -- an estimated total value of approximately $4.4 billion.

Verizon’s acquisition further drives its LTE wireless video and OTT (over-the-top video) strategy. The agreement will also support and connect to Verizon’s IoT (Internet of Things) platforms, creating a growth platform from wireless to IoT for consumers and businesses.

AOL is a leader in the digital content and advertising platforms space, and the combination of Verizon and AOL creates a scaled, mobile-first platform offering directly targeted at what eMarketer estimates is a nearly $600 billion global advertising industry. AOL’s key assets include its subscription business; its premium portfolio of global content brands, including The Huffington Post, TechCrunch, Engadget, MAKERS and AOL.com, as well as its millennial-focused OTT, Emmy-nominated original video content; and its programmatic advertising platforms.

Lowell McAdam, Verizon chairman and CEO, said: “Verizon’s vision is to provide customers with a premium digital experience based on a global multiscreen network platform. This acquisition supports our strategy to provide a cross-screen connection for consumers, creators and advertisers to deliver that premium customer experience.”

He added, “AOL has once again become a digital trailblazer, and we are excited at the prospect of charting a new course together in the digitally connected world. At Verizon, we’ve been strategically investing in emerging technology, including Verizon Digital Media Services and OTT, that taps into the market shift to digital content and advertising. AOL’s advertising model aligns with this approach, and the advertising platform provides a key tool for us to develop future revenue streams.”

Tim Armstrong, AOL chairman and CEO, will continue to lead AOL operations after closing.

Armstrong said, “Verizon is a leader in mobile and OTT connected platforms, and the combination of Verizon and AOL creates a unique and scaled mobile and OTT media platform for creators, consumers and advertisers. The visions of Verizon and AOL are shared; the companies have existing successful partnerships, and we are excited to work with the team at Verizon to create the next generation of media through mobile and video.”

The transaction will take the form of a tender offer followed by a merger, with AOL becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of Verizon upon completion.

The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions and is expected to close this summer.

Verizon expects to fund the transaction from cash on hand and commercial paper. The company also continues to expect to return to pre-Vodafone transaction credit ratings in the 2018-2019 timeframe.

Transaction advisers for Verizon were LionTree Advisors; Guggenheim Partners; and Weil, Gotshal & Manges. AOL advisers were Allen & Company LLC and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.
Click to expand...
 
B

BronsonLee

Member
Has to be just for the ad platform. Can't think of much else.

Also, oh my god the buzzwords in this damn press release make me want to roll away. Over The Top, Internet of Things...nooooo
 
BeforeU

BeforeU

Oft hope is born when all is forlorn.
I honestly thought AOL was dead long time ago. The fuck they even do now?
 
B

backflip10019

Member
BronsonLee said:
Has to be just for the ad platform. Can't think of much else.

Also, oh my god the buzzwords in this damn press release make me want to roll away. Over The Top, Internet of Things...nooooo
Click to expand...
Yep, that's the only real value left at AOL.

Eh, that's the way press releases are written.
 
L

Lkr

Member
BeforeU said:
I honestly thought AOL was dead long time ago. The fuck they even do now?
Click to expand...

AOL is a leader in the digital content and advertising platforms space, and the combination of Verizon and AOL creates a scaled, mobile-first platform offering directly targeted at what eMarketer estimates is a nearly $600 billion global advertising industry. AOL’s key assets include its subscription business; its premium portfolio of global content brands, including The Huffington Post, TechCrunch, Engadget, MAKERS and AOL.com, as well as its millennial-focused OTT, Emmy-nominated original video content; and its programmatic advertising platforms.
Click to expand...
.
 
Ray Wonder

Ray Wonder

Founder of the Wounded Tagless Children
Don't know how to feel about this. I don't know enough about how much influence AOL's advertising is. The brand is fucked though, there's no coming back from it. AOL is associated with slow internet, and spam mail discs.
 
F

Funky Papa

FUNK-Y-PPA-4
Somewhat annoyed that Tim Armstrong is getting PAID after some of the bullshit he's pulled.

AOL CEO on 401(k) Changes: Blame Obamacare and Two Pregnant Employees’ ‘Distressed Babies’

Tim Armstrong should probably stop doing conference calls. The AOL CEO, who fired a guy during one for taking his picture, was perhaps too brash once again today, baldly telling his entire company that their benefits were being rolled back because two women went and got themselves pregnant. “Two things that happened in 2012,” Armstrong said, according to a transcript obtained by Capital New York. "We had two AOL-ers that had distressed babies that were born that we paid a million dollars each to make sure those babies were okay in general. And those are the things that add up into our benefits cost. So when we had the final decision about what benefits to cut because of the increased health-care costs, we made the decision, and I made the decision, to basically change the 401(k) plan."

Earlier, on TV, Armstrong said, “As a CEO and as a management team, we had to decide, do we pass the $7.1 million of Obamacare costs to our employees? Or do we try to eat as much of that as possible and cut other benefits?”

The Huffington Post, which is owned by AOL, covered the comments in its business section, while some employees expressed their collective "WTF" in public:

Next week, Armstrong is scheduled to appear at a conference that aims to "reset the agenda for women in the workplace in the 21st century."
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At Google, Tim Armstrong Was Sued for Demoting and Firing Employee Pregnant with Quadruplets


In April 2004, four months before that IPO, Elwell told Armstrong she was pregnant with quadruplets and would not be able to travel by plane due to complications. He was concerned, but she reassured him she was eager to resume travel after giving birth. In May, Elwell miscarried two of her four fetuses. A few weeks later, Armstrong allegedly called her into his office and showed her an organizational chart in which her position would be eliminated and she would be demoted to the operations department, with no management responsibilities. He allegedly told colleagues he was moving Elwell because she could not travel.

Elwell proposed that she instead take a position as East Coast sales director, in which she would be able to travel by train and car. Armstrong rejected that idea and filled the job with a male employee whom Elwell had recently hired. Then, on June 4, 2004, Armstrong allegedly called Elwell into his office and told her she was a “HR nightmare” because she had talked with colleagues about her concerns regarding her pregnancy and employment status at Google. The following day, he called her at home and fired her, saying he had “a gut feeling” it was the right thing to do, in part because she had “spoken to others” about the situation. (Remember when Armstrong impulsively fired a guy in the midst of a conference call last year, with 1,000 employees listening in?)
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Listen to AOL CEO Tim Armstrong Casually Fire Someone During a Conference Call (the fun starts at 1:50)

Real douchelord.
 
terrisus

terrisus

Member
Oh shi~

They better not touch my terrisus@aol.com email address that I've had for like 17 years...
And my AOL 5.0 software better continue to work >.>
 
terrisus

terrisus

Member
Funky Papa said:
Somewhat annoyed that Tim Armstrong is getting PAID after some of the bullshit he's pulled.
Click to expand...

Never forget:

qkyayl7.jpg



(For those not in the AOL loop - Steve Case)
 
K

ksdixon

Member
BronsonLee said:
I could absolutely see Verizon doing this. It was a stupendously stupid move to let AIM fall off the way it did
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No one uses AIM/MSN Messenger anymore.
Ever since FaceBook got FB Chat, and smartphones with WhatsApp etc. became a thing, they were no longer needed.
 
F

Fladam

Member
This has nothing to do with dial up subscribers at all.

It's another fucked up content provider buying up a content creator. HuffPo, Engadget, TechCrunch, Maker.

I hate this. Hate hate hate.
 
poppabk

poppabk

Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
ksdixon said:
No one uses AIM/MSN Messenger anymore.
Ever since FaceBook got FB Chat, and smartphones with WhatsApp etc. became a thing, they were no longer needed.
Click to expand...
That's the point, WhatsApp is basically AIM for the smartphone generation, when AIM could have been.
 
K

ksdixon

Member
terrisus said:
Well, yeah - the smart people use a catch-all messenger like Trillian which does a bunch of them.



Trillian does Facebook chat also.



There's a "smartphone" app for Trillian as well.
Click to expand...

People still used IM clients at all?

Ever since FB Chat came along, those died-off on desktop/laptops. Everyone was already on FB checking out their news feeds anyway. No need to install a separate IM software. Over on phones/smartphones, once there was free messaging apps like WhatsApp, people no longer had to use an IM to avoid spending money on mobile phone texts.
 
terrisus

terrisus

Member
ksdixon said:
People still used IM clients at all?

Ever since FB Chat came along, those died-off on desktop/laptops. Everyone was already on FB checking out their news feeds anyway. No need to install a separate IM software. Over on phones/smartphones, once there was free messaging apps like WhatsApp, people no longer had to use an IM to avoid spending money on mobile phone texts.
Click to expand...

I can't imagine using a messenger inside of a dedicated webpage. It's just so awkward and inconvenient.

And, messengers don't use texts...
 
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