Sharks circling on AOL? M&A meetings underway, report says
Ki Mae Heussner reports that top-ranking representatives from law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and investment banking company Allen & Company met with AOL executives at the company's Manhattan offices on Wednesday.
Among them: Wachtell founding partner Martin Lipton and Allen & Co. managing director Nancy Peretsman.
AOL chief executive Tim Armstrong reportedly denied that any specific deals were underway, but the meeting suggests that merger and acquisition-themed talks are happening nonetheless -- perhaps to bolster the weakening company's defenses against private equity firms, Heussner suggests.
Armstrong continues his work to try to turn around the beleaguered company, whose acquisition of the Huffington Post was high-profile but an anchor on the company's share price and investor confidence.
The possibilities for AOL:
- Private equity financing: gives those firms a seat at the digital content table
- Breakup: separates the wheat from the chaff
- Merger: the company still makes money and its online presence looms large
- Invest: Go long and hope that content+ads can weather a down economy
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