Verizon will acquire Aol for $4.4 billion dollars. Verizon, which includes the nation’s No. 1 wireless provider as well as pay TV provider FiOS, will now include media properties The Huffington Post, TechCrunch, Engadget, MAKERS and AOL.com. Aol will remain a subsidiary of Verizon when the deal closes, and Tim Armstrong will remain CEO. Since media these days is a series of lists, here’s what Aol wants you to know about the deal:
1. The combination of Verizon and AOL brings us to the scale of Facebook and Google: Verizon touches 70% of Internet traffic across 1.5 billion PCs, TVs and mobile devices.
2. The combination of Verizon and AOL creates a powerful force in mobile, video, social, and programmatic platforms.
3. Verizon leads in mobile & mobile video, and AOL leads in video & programmatic advertising. The combination creates the first & most powerful media technology company on the planet.
4. The bundling of Verizon and AOL creates a powerful platform for the unbundling of media.
5. AOL shareholders have more than doubled their investment value (~150%) during AOL’s turnaround, and now Verizon and AOL will double the size of the mobile video/TV ad market.