Time Warner ups AOL talks as Yahoo! meeting nears

by Darren Davidson, Brand Republic 16-Jul-08, 11:50

LONDON - Time Warner's discussions to merge or sell its AOL internet division to either Microsoft or Yahoo! have taken on a new urgency ahead of Yahoo!'s shareholder meeting on August 1.

The structure of any deal with one of the internet giants has not been disclosed, but if a combination of any of the parties does materialise, the impact is expected to alter the balance of power between the leading players on the internet.

One proposal involves Yahoo! undertaking a merger with AOL, with Time Warner taking a minority stake in the combined company. A deal with Microsoft would likely be a sale of AOL.

Time Warner's talks come after Microsoft's buyout discussions with Yahoo! fell apart, with Microsoft withdrawing its $47.5bn (£22.6bn) bid in May. Following the ailing internet company's decision to turn down the offer, the sides have waged a public war of words.

Microsoft has recently been pursuing a deal for Yahoo!'s search business without any progress.

Discussions with Time Warner have accelerated as Yahoo! and Microsoft view AOL as a boost to their position in search advertising, where Google dominates.

AOL plans to split its dial-up internet business and has focused on building a one-stop online advertising shop over the past two years.

Yahoo!'s interest in AOL is designed to show shareholders that it could grow without Microsoft, as it gets set to face a proxy battle against activist investor Carl Icahn on August 1.

Icahn, who owns about 5% of Yahoo shares, has aligned himself with Microsoft, and is seeking to replace Yahoo!'s board and oust CEO Jerry Yang at the meeting.