Time Warner’s chief executive officer Richard Parsons now confirms his company is talking to a number of potential partners about investing in AOL.
Remember that dismissal of AOL takeover talks Parsons made three weeks ago? Over lunch in Hong Kong, he brushed off claims made in the Wall Street Journal and other places about possible deals with Microsoft, Google, and even Yahoo as “market rumors.”
We can upgrade those rumors to a confirmation that Time Warner has indeed been talking to others about possible ways AOL could benefit from an outside investor, as ClickZ reported:
Parsons addressed the persistent rumors the company is in talks with any of several key players, including Microsoft, Yahoo and Google, to buy or invest in AOL. He confirmed the company is involved in “strategic discussions” with several companies to discuss “a range of potential strategic investments and transactions,” but declined to name the parties involved or reveal details about the nature of the deals being discussed.
“It’s too early to go into details on the nature of the discussions. There may not even be any deal to discuss,” he said.
AOL’s conversion from subscriber-supported to audience-supported revenue streams, in process fully since July, has seen ad revenue go up even as subscribers leave the service for other providers, as the company reported in its earnings announcement:
Revenue at America Online fell 4.6% to $2.04 billion from $2.14 billion the year earlier, as it continues its transition from subscription-driven revenue to advertisement-based sales. AOL’s advertising revenue gained 28%, or $71 million, while subscription revenue fell 10%, or $175 million.
David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business. Email him here.
