Direct & Newsy: Italy’s Bending Spoons to Acquire AOL from Yahoo in €1.2 Billion Deal

The Italian technology group Bending Spoons is taking over AOL from Yahoo for around 1.2 billion euros. The Milan-based company still sees a lot of untapped potential in the Internet pioneer and wants to invest heavily.

Bending Spoons secures internet legend

Bending Spoons signed a definitive agreement to acquire AOL from Yahoo on Wednesday. That reports it Reuters news agency. The acquisition is expected to close by the end of the year, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. To finance the acquisition and future acquisitions, Bending Spoons secured a loan package of 2.8 billion US dollars (approximately 2.4 billion euros).

Untapped potential with 30 million users

According to its own estimates, the company is one of the ten most used email providers worldwide with a loyal customer base of around eight million daily and 30 million monthly active users.

AOL is an iconic, beloved company that is healthy, has stood the test of time, and, in our opinion, has untapped potential. Bending Spoons CEO Luca Ferrari

The development among younger users is remarkable: AOL’s website traffic among 25 to 54 year olds has increased by 20 percent year-on-year. Growth was driven by new content categories such as Health, Fitness, Animals, Science & Tech, Home & Garden and True Crime. AOL generates revenue through advertising and subscription services such as Lifelock identity protection, Lastpass password management and McAfee Multi Access malware protection.

Strategic expansion of the app developer

Bending Spoons already owns well-known brands such as Brightcove, Evernote, Komoot, Meetup, Remini, StreamYard and WeTransfer. The company’s products currently reach more than one billion people, with over 300 million monthly active users and ten million paying customers. Just last month, the Milan-based company announced the acquisition of the video platform Vimeo for 1.38 billion US dollars (around 1.18 billion euros).

History of AOL

• 1983 Control Video Corporation was founded in 1983, the basis for what would later become AOL

• 1985 Quantum Computer Services founded in Dulles, Virginia

• 1989 1989 Renamed to America Online (AOL)

• 1991 1991 Launch of the well-known dial-up Internet service as a graphical online service for PC and Macintosh users

• 1996 1996 Switch from the hourly fee model to a monthly flat rate for the online service

• 2000 2000 peak with around 30 million paying members – AOL is the world’s largest Internet service provider

• 2001 2001 Takeover of Time Warner – renamed to “AOL Time Warner” with around 26 million customers

• 2025 September 30 End of an era: After over 34 years, dial-up internet service is finally discontinued. AOL is still part of Yahoo!

Bending Spoons has become one of Europe’s leading technology companies, with a strategy of acquiring and turning around struggling tech firms. The company follows a long-term strategy and has never sold an acquired company. AOL was once at the center of what was then the largest merger in history when it merged with Time Warner in 2000. However, the mega transaction led to regulatory investigations and large write-downs. Now the Internet pioneer is set to take off again under new leadership.