Home › DMW Daily › December 14, 2009

WSJ: AOL in Talks to Sell ICQ Instant Messaging Business

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 14, 2009 - 10:23am.
New York - Newly independent AOL (NYSE: AOL) is in early talks to potentially sell its ICQ instant-messenger business to Russia's Digital Sky Technologies in a deal that could be worth up to $300 million, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

ICQ, which is most popular with Internet users in Germany and Russia, is among a handful of AOL assets, along with social networking site Bebo, that AOL reportedly is attempting to shed.

A person familiar with the matter told the Journal that AOL also has had initial talks with other potential suitors about the business.

The news comes just five days after AOL completed its spinout from parent Time Warner.

Digital Sky is also an investor in Facebook, having purchased $100 million in shares to boost its stake in the company to as much as 3.5% back in July.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/tos78 (WSJ)

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/14/technology/companies/14aol.html

Published in DMW Daily, December 14, 2009
tags: Deals | Social Networking | AOL | Acquisitions | Digital Sky Technologies | ICQ |



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