Binding Offers Submitted For AOL’s ICQ; IM Unit Valued At $300 Million
-
Comments (View)
- Text Size: A A
-
Email
-
Share
Two months after bids started ramping up for AOL’s instant messaging service ICQ came rushing in, it looks like the competition to own it is down to three companies, Reuters reports, citing Vedomosti, a Russian business news outlet. As Rafat reported in February, two of the possible bidders included Russian investment group Digital Sky Technologies, which has investment in Facebook and Zynga and South African media giant Naspers, which holds a 30 percent stake in China’s Tencent. This latest report says the bid is coming from Tencent itself. More details on Quintura’s blog as well.
The third company in the mix is Russia’s ProfMedia, which has offered $120 million, according to The Moscow Times (via Dealbook).
SEE ALSO: Rise of Russians: Rambler Bidding For ICQ; Quintura in Sale Talks With LexisNexis & ProQuest
That’s less than half the $300 million that AOL (NYSE: AOL) has been hoping to attract for ICQ, which has 42 million global users. If AOL gets close to what it wants—earlier reports said it was expecting bids within the range of $200- to $250 million—that could determine how quickly the company moves to unload other units that haven’t been integrated under CEO Tim Armstrong’s review last year. As part of that review of AOL’s business structure, Armstrong was expected to pull back on some of AOL’s international activity as it tries to straighten out the tangle of systems that operate across its various outposts.
Posted In: Money, M&A & Venture Capital, Mergers & Acquisitions, Social Media, Companies, AOL, Countries, Europe, Russia, Asia, China, icq
iTunes Songs
Social Standing
Which media brands are getting a lift from Tweeters and bloggers right now -- and which are getting panned?
Show Me: