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Verizon to Sell Yahoo, AOL to Apollo for $5 Billion

Wireless company retreats from the media sector, but will retain 10% stake in digital-media business
Verizon Media, which includes Yahoo, had about $7 billion in revenue last year.. PHOTO: DAVID PAUL MORRIS/BLOOMBERG NEWS

Verizon Media, which includes Yahoo, had about $7 billion in revenue last year.. PHOTO: DAVID PAUL MORRIS/BLOOMBERG NEWS

Apollo Global Management Inc. agreed to pay about $5 billion to acquire Yahoo and AOL from Verizon Communications Inc. as the wireless company exits its ill-fated foray into the media business.

The private-equity firm is paying $4.25 billion in cash for a majority stake in the media assets and providing Verizon with interests in the businesses totaling $750 million. In addition, Verizon will keep a 10% stake in a new company, called Yahoo, that will be formed to operate the business.

The Wall Street Journal earlier reported Apollo’s interest in Verizon Media’s business, which mostly struggled to grow against Alphabet Inc. ’s Google and Facebook Inc. Verizon Media had about $7 billion in revenue last year.

Other suitors previously showed interest in buying off certain pieces of the media unit, which includes websites such as TechCrunch and Yahoo Finance, but weren’t willing to make an offer for the whole portfolio, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Verizon collected some of the web’s best-known brands starting in 2015 with its purchase of AOL, followed by its 2017 acquisition of Yahoo. AOL’s then-chief, Tim Armstrong, called the new business a super channel for advertisers to reach hundreds of millions of users.


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Source: WSJ:

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