AOL’s impending spinoff from parent Time Warner looks imminent
Tuesday, July 28th, 2009
Time Warner has bought back Google’s 5 percent stake in struggling Internet company AOL for US$283 million.
The price, paid July 8, is close to what Google estimated its stake at earlier this year.
The details emerged in a regulatory filing by AOL on Monday.
The deal sets the stage for AOL’s impending spinoff from parent Time Warner.
Mountain View-based Google bought the stake for $1 billion in 2006, but in January estimated the investment had sunk by more than 70 percent to $274 million – giving AOL a market value of about $5.5 billion.
Time Warner agreed to buy back the stake earlier this year.
The price at which New York-based Time Warner bought back the stake values AOL slightly higher, at about $5.66 billion.