AOL CEO Explains The Why And How Of Getting Acquired By Verizon

A lot of people have questions whether it made sense for Verizon Communications Inc. VZ to acquire AOL, Inc. AOL for $4.4 billion and also if AOL could have negotiated a better offer from other acquirers.

Tim Armstrong, AOL chairman & CEO, was on CNBC Wednesday to answer both of those questions.

Offering New Layer Of Service To Verizon Pipes

“I think Verizon is a company that is one of the largest companies in the world and one of the most successful,” Armstrong said. “And, I think, when they were looking forward they were deciding how to actually play the future of media. And AOL over the last 5 or 6 years we have really invested at the front-end of mobile and video and content brands."

He continued, “And I think from the Verizon standpoint, that’s a great company that makes more money, the more things flow through their pipes, more data. We are going to offer a new layer of service above the Verizon pipes which will be all about media, content, advertising.”

The Best Deal

On how AOL made a decision to go with Verizon’s offer, Armstrong said, “The reality is the conversation around AOL has been out there, there has been rumors about AOL for a long time and we as a Board took a step back and said what is going to take AOL to the next level, we had one sheet of paper that had multiple dimensions on it overall and Verizon basically ticked all of those boxes.”

“Other people were in the process you saw in the filing we did, so, we got the best deal for our shareholders, the best deal for our team and employees at AOL, the best deal for Verizon,” Armstrong concluded.