AOL Looking To Spin Off Huffpost

Along with its sale to Verizon, AOL would like to spin off the Huffington Post.

The talks have been most serious with Axel Springer, the German media conglomerate, but a number of private equity firms have also expressed interest in the high-profile property. Sources said the Huffington Post has been valued at above $1 billion in this scenario, which would either be a complete sale or, more likely, structured as a joint venture.

The move would be designed to bring in more investment for growth for the Huffington Post, which AOL bought several years ago for $300 million. High content costs and the ability to monetize those assets, as well as grow them — AOL also owns TechCrunch and a number of other content properties — has been hard for the company. And competitors like BuzzFeed and Business Insider have garnered massive fundings to spur expansion…

Of course, Verizon could pony up more dough for the site’s leader, Arianna Huffington, part of a alleged strategy on the part of the phone giant to own more content. But sources said Verizon was far more focused on advertising tech and video and that some kind of spin-off or joint venture was far more likely for the Huffington Post.

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.