AOL to Be Acquired by Italy’s Bending Spoons

You’ve got… a new owner!

AOL, the trailblazing internet company, is being acquired by Italian tech roll-up company Bending Spoons. Bending Spoons is buying AOL from private equity firm Apollo Global Management, which in 2021 bought Yahoo (inclusive of the AOL brand) from Verizon. The acquisition is expected to close by the end of 2025, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

Deal terms weren’t disclosed. Bending Spoons is buying AOL for about $1.5 billion, Axios reported. AOL generates around $400 million in annual earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, with revenue of more than $500 million, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

AOL currently has about 8 million daily active users and 30 million monthly active users for its online news, content and games portal and email services, according to Bending Spoons. An early leader in internet connectivity, AOL shuttered its dial-up internet business on Sept. 30.

Last month, Bending Spoons announced a deal to acquire video-hosting provider Vimeo for $1.38 billion in cash. That deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2025, subject to approvals.

“AOL is an iconic, beloved business that’s in good health, has stood the test of time, and we believe has unexpressed potential,” said Bending Spoons CEO and co-founder Luca Ferrari in a statement. “We intend to invest significantly to help the product and the business flourish. Bending Spoons has never sold an acquired business — we’re confident we’re the right long-term steward for AOL, and look forward to serving its large, loyal customer base for many years to come.”

AOL was founded in 1985 as Quantum Computer Services before being renamed America Online in 1989 (and then AOL in 2006). In the high-flying dot-com days, AOL also engineered what is widely considered among the worst mega-mergers ever with its deal for Time Warner to create AOL Time Warner, completed in January 2001, which was valued at a staggering $350 billion at the time. That merger was unwound in 2009.

Jim Lanzone, CEO of Yahoo Inc., said, “AOL and Yahoo share a great deal of history, and our new team has enjoyed the opportunity to return AOL to growth. This transaction will allow us to focus more deeply on the aggressive roadmaps we have planned for Yahoo’s core products moving forward, while ensuring AOL continues to thrive under new ownership.”

Reed Rayman, chair of Yahoo’s board and partner at Apollo, said, “Since Apollo Funds acquired Yahoo in 2021, we’ve helped the company drive transformational reinvestment in its digital media assets and consumer technology, producing strong performance across Yahoo’s properties. We believe this transaction positions AOL well for its next phase, while Yahoo accelerates investment in its flagship properties and AI-powered experiences.”

To finance the acquisition of AOL — as well as future M&A — Bending Spoons also announced the successful completion of a $2.8 billion debt financing package from banks including BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, J.P. Morgan, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Mizuho, Société Générale, Crédit Agricole CIB and Wells Fargo.

Bending Spoons’ other digital businesses include Brightcove, Evernote, komoot, Meetup, Remini, StreamYard and WeTransfer. The company, based in Milan, Italy, claims its products have more than 300 million monthly active users and 10 million paying customers.