Verizon Looks To Sell AOL And Yahoo Assets: Report

Verizon Communications Inc. VZ is reportedly seeking to sell its digital media assets including the AOL and Yahoo platforms.

What Happened: The New York City-headquartered company is engaged in a sales process involving the private equity firm Apollo Global Management Inc. APO in a deal that could be worth $4 billion to $5 billion, according to a Wall Street Journal report citing unnamed "people familiar with the matter."

Verizon acquired AOL in 2015 and Yahoo in 2017, shelling out a total of more than $9 billion to bring the two platforms under its banner. Both had been dominant figures in the early days of the Internet, but over time saw their popularity dwindle as social media and mobile apps became the driving force of the online environment.

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Why It's Happening: Verizon had anticipated reanimating AOL and Yahoo as digital media platforms, with the target of generating $10 billion annual revenue by 2020. But the company’s digital media business has failed to live up to expectations, leading Verizon to write down roughly $4.5 billion of its value in 2018 while selling off its HuffPost news division and Tumblr blogging platform.

For now, Verizon is shifting away from these platforms and focus its energies on expanding its 5G capabilities while pursuing partnerships with streaming services including Walt Disney Co.’s DIS Disney+ and Hulu, with Verizon can incorporate into its wireless and home-Internet offerings.

(Photo by Chris Rowin / Flickr Creative Commons/)