Verizon has closed its acquisition of AOL, just six weeks after it announced the US$4.4 billion takeover.
The U.S. telco on Tuesday said it has successfully completed its $50-per-share tender offer to purchase all of AOL’s outstanding shares.
It reiterated that AOL chief executive Tim Armstrong will continue to lead the unit and will take an expanded role under the Verizon umbrella. Bob Toohey, president of Verizon Digital Media Services, the telco’s content and advertising business, will report to Armstrong, the telco said.
Meanwhile, Armstrong will report to Verizon’s president of product innovation and new businesses, Marni Walden.
When it announced the deal in May, Verizon highlighted AOL’s advertising platforms, content brands and subscription services as particularly attractive assets.
AOL owns a number of online titles, including the Huffington Post, TechCrunch, and Engadget, in addition to its video unit AOL On. Its subscription services include WiFi hotspot access, cyber security and cloud storage among others.
While AOL’s advertising assets are clearly front-of-mind for Verizon, there has been a lot of speculation as to the future of its various content brands. There have been numerous reports that the telco would look to sell off the Huffington Post, for example.
Verizon did not specifically state this week that it will hang on to all t he businesses it acquired via AOL, there is a growing feeling that it wants to own the content side of the business as well as the advertising side.
