Wireless company Verizon Communications is selling Verizon Media, a division of Verizon Communications that focuses on media and online business, to private equity firm Apollo Global Management in a $5 billion deal, said media reports. Verizon will keep a 10% in the new company, which will be called Yahoo!.
Verizon Media, which is being sold, consists of tech platforms - AOL and Yahoo. The properties Verizon is selling include Yahoo Finance, Yahoo Mail and the tech blogs Engadget and TechCrunch.
Verizon has been shedding media assets as it refocuses on wireless communication business, spending billions on licensing the airwaves needed for '5G'. In 2019 Verizon sold blogging site Tumblr to Automattic, the parent firm of WordPress blogging platform, for an undisclosed amount which was reportedly less than $3 million and HuffPost to BuzzFeed in November last year.
Verizon Communications acquired AOL in 2015. When Verizon Communications purchased Yahoo! in 2017, it merged AOL and Yahoo! into a subsidiary named Oath Inc., which was renamed to Verizon Media in January 2019.
Verizon will receive $4.25 billion in cash, preferred interests of $750 million and the minority stake.
The deal is expected to close in the second half of the year.
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