Verizon announced on Tuesday that it has already completed its acquisition of AOL.
That didn’t take long, did it? The $4.4 billion deal was only announced last month. Now, Verizon says it has successfully completed its tender offer to purchase all of AOL’s outstanding shares for %50 per share in cash.
Verizon says in its announcement:
Verizon subsequently completed the acquisition of the remaining eligible AOL shares not acquired in the tender offer through a merger pursuant to Section 251(h) of the General Corporate Law of the State of Delaware. As a result, AOL shares will no longer be traded on the NYSE, and AOL is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Verizon.
As of the expiration of the tender offer, approximately 47,522,501 shares were validly tendered and not withdrawn in the tender offer, representing 60.37 percent of AOL’s outstanding shares, according to the depositary for the tender offer. Notices of Guaranteed Delivery were delivered with respect to 2,767,607 additional shares, representing approximately 3.52 percent of AOL’s shares, according to the depositary. Verizon has accepted for payment and will promptly pay for all validly tendered (and not withdrawn) shares.
All eligible AOL shares that were not validly tendered have been converted into the right to receive $50.00 per share in cash, without interest and less any applicable withholding taxes — the same price paid in the tender offer.
In an expanded role, AOL CEO Tim Armstrong continues to lead AOL operations after the closing, and Bob Toohey, president of Verizon Digital Media Services, will report to Armstrong. Verizon Digital Media Services uses world-class technology to help companies prepare, deliver and display digital media content including video, web pages, applications, mobile ads and live events on any screen. Armstrong will report to Marni Walden, Verizon executive vice president and president of Product Innovation and New Businesses.
The companies will hold a press conference today to further discuss the details.
Despite speculation that Verizon would sell AOL’s content properties such as The Huffington Post, the companies have said that there are no such plans. Of course Twitter CEO Dick Costolo also said his job was safe about a week before he announced his resignation.
We’ll be hearing plenty more about Verizon’s plans for AOL and its various properties in the near future.
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