AOL, the iconic internet brand that helped define the early online era, is changing hands once again. The company is being acquired by Bending Spoons, a Milan-based tech firm with a policy of never selling an acquired business, in a deal reported to be around $1.5 billion, per the Independent. Bending Spoons is best known for apps including Remini, Evernote, Meetup, and WeTransfer, and last month announced a pending deal to acquire Vimeo for around $1.4 billion. CEO and co-founder Luca Ferrari says the company plans to "invest significantly" in AOL—"an iconic, beloved business that's in good health, has stood the test of time, and we believe has unexpressed potential."
AOL, with a core business centering on privacy software and its long-running web portal, generates more than $500 million in revenue annually, according to the Wall Street Journal. It remains a top 10 global email provider, with 8 million daily and 30 million monthly active users, Ferrari said, noting there are ways to better serve this "incredibly loyal user base," per Axios. AOL's journey has included a $100 billion merger with Time Warner in 2001, later acquisitions by Verizon and Yahoo, and most recently, ownership under Apollo Global Management. Bending Spoons—founded in 2013 and reportedly named after this scene in The Matrix—recently secured $2.8 billion in debt financing to fund the deal, expected to close by early next year, and other investments.
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