SEL: AOL Not Likely to Sell, Deal Rumored Close with MSFT

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December 06, 2005

AOL Not Likely to Sell, Deal Rumored Close with MSFT

Via NyTimes article AOL Deal May Omit Stake Sale:

"Time Warner is still in negotiations with Microsoft and Google over a variety of potential deals involving its AOL unit. But most of the possibilities under discussion do not involve either company's buying a stake in AOL, an executive briefed on the negotiations said yesterday. Rather, they would involve cooperation on Web search, advertising sales and possibly other areas, the executive said."

Via Battelle's quotes of WSJ:

"After months of on-again-off-again negotiations, the two companies are now focused on a deal that would combine advertising-related assets – with minimal, if any, money changing hands. An agreement is expected to be struck sometime before year-end, but it is still possible that AOL could choose instead to deepen its relationship with Google at Microsoft's expense."

What could MSN offer to pull them away from Google? I honestly don't understand the MSNBC/Time Warner complexities well enough to know which way AOL will fall.

MSN's desperate for a leg up on Google though so they're probably offering a lot for the partnership. My hunch is Google though, as they can help monitize most types of content and MSN's essentially a content competitor with AOL.

Garrett French - MarketSmart Interactive | permalink | +marktd |

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