Verizon Communications announced the completion of its acquisition of the operating business of Yahoo!, and that it has combined these assets with its existing AOL business to create a new subsidiary, Oath, comprising more than 50 media and technology brands worldwide.
Verizon acquired the Yahoo! operations for approximately $4.48 billion through an agreement originally announced in July last year. Closing of the agreement was delayed as the companies assessed the effect of two data breaches disclosed by Yahoo! after the transaction was announced. The agreement originally value Yahoo! at approximately $4.8 billion in cash.
As a subsidiary of Verizon, Oath will focus on building its brands. The company reaches over one billion people worldwide, offering a group of over 50 media and technology brands. The new Oath portfolio includes HuffPost, Yahoo Sports, AOL.com, MAKERS, Tumblr, BUILD Studios, Yahoo Finance, Yahoo Mail.
The business, part of Verizon’s Media and Telematics organisation, will be led by Tim Armstrong, former CEO of AOL. Mr. Armstrong has been leading integration planning teams since the Yahoo transaction was announced in July 2016.
Tim Armstrong is also leading efforts to continue to build an advanced and open advertising technology solutions, with brands such as ONE by AOL and BrightRoll spanning mobile, video, search, native and programmatic ads.
Verizon stated that following the changes to former Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer’s role with Yahoo as a result of the closing of the transaction, Ms. Mayer has resigned from the company.
Commenting on the transaction, Marni Walden, president of Media and Telematics, said, “The close of this transaction represents a critical step in growing the global scale needed for Verizon’s digital media company… the combined set of assets across Verizon and Oath, from VR to AI, 5G to IoT, from content partnerships to originals, will create new ways to (address) audiences globally”.
- In April this year, Verizon announced it would adopt a new operating structure focused on three areas: Media and Telematics, Network and Technology, and Customer and Product Operations.
- Verizon also announced the appointment of: Marni Walden as EVP of the Media and Telematics business; Hans Vestberg, former CEO of Ericsson, as EVP of the new Network and Technology operation; and John Stratton as EVP of the Customer and Product Operations unit.
