Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Exclusive: AOL Hires Bankers to Sell Off ICQ, as Internet Service Starts to Shed Non-Core Assets
AOL has hired a pair of New York investment bankers, Morgan Stanley and Allen & Co., to manage the sale of its ICQ instant-messaging unit.
Sources familiar with the situation said interest in buying the asset from two major non-U.S. companies prompted execs at the online service to put a process in place for a deal that will likely occur after AOL becomes an independent company in December.
AOL bought ICQ in 1998 for about $400 million–$287 million outright and $125 million in earnouts for the team.
Sources said AOL to looking to recoup $300 million.















When Apple releases its third-quarter earnings after the close today, Wall Street will be looking hard for a solid performance from the company to help buoy a tech sector smacked silly by weak reports from industry leaders Microsoft and Google last week.