AOL is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Verizon, as Big Red officially completed the acquisition.
Verizon is a well-known company in the U.S., but mostly for its Internet and telephone services. The company wants to expand and prove its worth as a media company as well, and this acquisition is a major step forward in this direction.
Rumors of Verizon acquiring AOL had been making rounds for several months, and the deal became official in May when the proposed acquisition became public.
Verizon announced that it has completed the acquisition, buying all outstanding shares of AOL at $50 per share. This means that AOL shares will no longer trade on the New York Stock Exchange and AOL is a wholly owned Verizon subsidiary.
From now on, AOL's operations will merge with Verizon's, with the following structure: AOL CEO Tim Armstrong will keep leading AOL operations, while Bob Toohey, president of Verizon Digital Media Services (Verizon's advertising business) will report to Armstrong. In turn, Armstrong will report to Marni Walden, executive vice president and president of Product Innovation and New Businesses, Verizon.
This new acquisition of AOL proves Verizon's commitment to becoming a content-focused media company, drawing profits from videos and ads, not just through its Internet and telephone services. This is where AOL comes in, as it is a prominent media company with original video content, as well as programmatic content and advertising technology, and can offer Verizon valuable experience and expertise.
"AOL is a media technology company with a mission to simplify the Internet for consumers and creators by unleashing the world's best builders of culture and code," Verizon boasts in its new press release today, June 23, announcing the completion of the acquisition.
Verizon points out that AOL is one of the nation's largest online properties, with roughly 200 million consumers enjoying its premium brands each month. By leveraging programmatic content and advertising platforms at a global scale to serve as an essential link between publishers and advertisers, AOL is "at the center of disruption," Verizon further touts, when it comes to producing, distributing, consuming and monetizing content.
AOL's key assets include its subscription business along with its premium portfolio of global content brands, including The Huffington Post, TechCrunch, Engadget, Makers and AOL.com.
"AOL's opportunity lies in shaping the future of the digitally connected world for decades to come," Verizon said.
