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According to Tim Arango in the NY Post:
In a deal that would unite two of America’s corporate giants as partners in the Internet business, Time Warner is in advanced discussions to sell a stake in America Online to Microsoft, The Post has learned.
According to two sources familiar with the matter, Time Warner is in talks with Microsoft about selling the stake in AOL and then combining it with Microsoft’s Web unit MSN.
Under the plan being considered, Microsoft would pay some money to Time Warner for the AOL stake, leaving the two companies approximately equal partners in the venture.
While the deal could fall apart, the companies are hopeful they can wrap it up within the next couple of months.
It’s rather hard for me to imagine how this could be a good deal for Microsoft.
September 19th, 2005 at 8:55 PM
[...] The Microsoft AOL acquisition story just gets better as Elinor Mills reports at CNET: Google could try to bid for America Online to preempt a Microsoft takeover and protect the $380 million in revenue Google gets from its biggest partner, according to an analyst. [Permalink] [...]
September 22nd, 2005 at 4:06 PM
[...] Neither Microsoft nor Google are acquiring AOL, according to a report from Ed Oswald at BetaNews – CEO: AOL Will Stay With Time Warner: Squashing rumors that AOL is on the auction block, Time Warner says it remains committed to AOL, according to comments made by CEO Richard Parsons at a Goldman Sachs media conference. Parsons told attendees that he thought the driver for the company “is going to be AOL in the short term and the long term.” [...]