Verizon to Sell AOL and Yahoo for $5 Billion

The company announced it will sell the Verizon Media Group for five billion dollars.

Verizon is hanging up on the media side of its business. Yesterday, the company announced it will sell the Verizon Media Group for five billion dollars. AOL and Yahoo will be sold to private equity firm, Apollo Global Management. It appears to be a big loss for Verizon, which paid a combined nine billion dollars for both companies. Under the deal, the Verizon Media Group will now be called Yahoo. Verizon will keep a 10% stake in the spin-off company. When the telephone company first purchased AOL and Yahoo, it had plans to become a dominant player in the online media and ad business. Verizon said the sale allows the company to “aggressively pursue growth areas and stands to benefit its employees, advertisers, publishing partners and nearly 900 million monthly active users worldwide.” The transaction is expected to close in the second half of this year.