Verizon to shutter Yahoo and AOL brands, combining both to make Oath
- Tuesday, April 4th, 2017
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Verizon has revealed the next step in its long-running acquisition of Yahoo: combining it with AOL, which Verizon picked up in 2015, to create a new company, named Oath.
The rebrand was announced by AOL CEO Tim Armstrong in a tweet, which claimed Oath would have “1bn-plus consumers, 20-plus brands” and launch this summer.
Other official information is currently thin on the ground, including whether this means the Yahoo and AOL brands will be dispensed with completely, or what it means for sub-brands like Yahoos Tumblr.
Recode reports that Armstrong will head up Oath, while Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer will not be part of the the newly-created company. Thats counter to what Mayer had originally said, writing in the announcement of Yahoos acquisition last July: “For me personally, I’m planning to stay.”
Of course, a lot has changed since then. Later in 2016 it was revealed that Yahoo had suffered not one but two huge data breaches – the biggest in history – leading to uncertainty over whether Verizon would go through with the deal at all. Ultimately, the originally agreed price of $4.8bn was reduced by $350m.
The deal is expected to close during Q2 2017, in time for Oaths summer launch.