Time Warner Steps Up Talks With Yahoo!

Time Warner has stepped up talks about the possibility of merging or selling AOL to Yahoo! ahead of Yahoo’s shareholder meeting on August 1.

Details of the potential deal has not yet been revealed, however one propsosal involves Time Warner taking a minority stake in a merger of the two companies.

If Time Warner completed a deal with Microsoft it could involve the complete sale of AOL.

Both Microsoft and Yahoo! view AOL as a boost to their position in search advertising, where Google currently dominates.

Microsoft criticised a deal between Yahoo! and Google yesterday, saying together they would be able to control 90% of the search advertising industry (see Google And Yahoo! Deal Criticised).

Microsoft released a statement suggesting it would be keen to re-enter talks with Yahoo! if it replaced it’s board, either to purchase the search function or the whole company, just a week ago (see Microsoft Set To Re-Enter Talks With Yahoo!).

Yahoo!’s interest in AOL is designed to show shareholders that they can grow with Microsoft, according to reports in the trade press.

AOL Time Warner: 020 7348 8000 www.aoltimewarner.com Yahoo!: 020 7808 4200 www.yahoo.co.uk Microsoft: 0870 60 10 100 www.microsoft.com/uk