US telecoms giant, Verizon, is to buy AOL, the one-time king of the internet, for some 3.9 billion euros. <br /><br /> The all-cash and debt absorption deal will give Verizon, America’s largest mobile operator, access to AOL’s advertising and content businesses, such as Huffington Post, MovieFone and TechCrunch. <br /><br /> Tim Armstrong, who has led AOL’s transformation into one of the most successful advertising technology companies, will continue to head the company after the sale, with AOL becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of Verizon.<br /><br /> Back in 2000, Time Warner and AOL agreed a 165bn euro merger. The deal turned out to be a disaster, often described as the world’s worst ever takeover, and was a pivotal moment in the last tech boom as phone subscribes drifted off to cable.<br /><br /> AOL was later spun off from Time Warner in 2009 and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange at a value of €3.4 billion.
