Bending Spoons, one of Europe's largest mobile app developers, has announced that it will acquire Yahoo-owned AOL. The acquisition will be supported by a $2.8 billion credit facility backed by Apollo.
The acquisition is expected to close by the end of the year, but is subject to closing conditions and regulatory approvals.
Bending Spoons CEO Luca Ferrari said:
"AOL is an iconic and beloved business, with a proven track record and untapped potential. We plan to invest heavily in developing the product and business. Bending Spoons has never sold a business it has acquired before — we are confident that we are the right long-term owner for AOL and will continue to serve its millions of loyal users."
AOL has approximately 8 million daily active users and 30 million monthly active users and is one of the top 10 most used email services in the world.
The news came as no surprise to many, as Reuters had previously reported that Yahoo was planning to sell AOL to Bending Spoons for about $1.4 billion.
AOL is one of the most recognizable brands on the internet, best known for its “You’ve Got Mail” notification system. The company was previously owned by Time Warner (2001–2009) and Verizon Communications (2015–2021).
The acquisition adds to Bending Spoons’ list of acquisitions of Vimeo, Evernote, Meetup and other American brands.
