Possible Apollo Deal Would Help Verizon to Focus on Wireless 5G vs. Legacy Media
Posted on 05/02/2021
Verizon Communications Inc. is nearing a possible outcome to dump its media division to Apollo Global Management Inc. Verizon plans to keep a stake in the business. Instead of media and blogs, Verizon wants to focus on its wireless business and building out advanced 5G services.
The media division includes 1990s internet brands such as Yahoo! and AOL (American Online). In 2020, Verizon sold left-wing opinion site HuffPost online news service to BuzzFeed Inc. In 2019, Verizon sold blogging platform Tumblr, which was one of Yahoo’s past prized acquisitions. Verizon threw cash at media properties, never being able to make true financial success. Verizon bought AOL for US$ 4.4 billion in 2015. Verizon had Tim Armstrong, the head of AOL, to attempt to build an assembly of internet brands called Oath. In 2017, Verizon bought Yahoo! for roughly US$ 4.5 billion. In 2018, Verizon wrote off more than US$ 4 billion of its media holdings, or roughly half the value of those business. Those businesses became the division Verizon Media Group.
