Google demands to make AOL public

Google bought shares that formed 5% of the ISP giant in December 2005. These shares were bought for $1b. They also managed to beat Microsoft in the bidding war for AOL, bringing the price of AOL to $20B. The loss to Google was a big blow to Microsoft.

On the 1st of July, 2008, Google went ahead and got their three year deal with AOL renewed as they invested $726M in AOL Q4 2008.

Today, the scenario has changed as Google has placed AOL at a total value of only $5.4B, which is a big difference from its initial investment. Considering the various clauses of their original agreement, Timer Warner is now being held in a difficult position by Google. Due to this, Times Warner is being forced to cut AOL off their company and let it go public, which if not done will make them buy themselves out of their deal with Google.

Speaking in respect to the deal, Times Warner said that they were reviewing the request set before them. They also added that they had several other options, few of which include going ahead with the request, delaying their decision or buying back from Google.