剛剛宣佈，Verizon同意以44億美元收購美國線上。這是每股50美元的價格，交易預計在今年夏天完成。這家美國移動巨頭稱，這是“在構建數字和影片平臺以推動未來增長方面邁出的重要一步”。擁有AOL的數字內容和廣告專業知識被視為推動Verizon LTE無線影片和其他頂級影片服務盈利戰略的一項重要資產。即便如此，有趣的是，新聞稿中提到的美國線上的第一項關鍵資產是經久不衰的（永恆的？）訂閱業務，它讓美國線上經久不衰。除此之外，線上出版領域還有一些重要品牌，如《赫芬頓郵報》（2011年美國線上以3.15億美元收購了該報）、Engadget和TechCrunch。

這是Verizon去年完成1300億美元收購沃達豐（Vodafone）旗下Verizon Wireless業務後的最大一筆交易。有趣的是，Verizon執行長Lowell McAdam今年1月否認了有關正在談判收購AOL的傳聞，認為it和其他媒體公司應被視為合適的合作伙伴，而不是完全收購。今天，麥卡達姆說：“美國線上再次成為了一個數字的開拓者，我們對在數字連線的世界裡共同規劃一條新道路的前景感到興奮。”

就美國線上而言，交易完成後，該公司將保留現任執行長兼董事長蒂姆•阿姆斯特朗（Tim Armstrong）擔任運營主管。Verge已經獲得了阿姆斯特朗向AOL全體員工釋出的備忘錄的副本：

AOLers –

As you have heard me say many times over the last 5 years since we became an independent AOL, we are building toward becoming the largest media technology company in the world. While there are search platforms, social platforms, and commerce platforms, we have built a very meaningful media platform and AOL today is a media platform company powering our brands and the brands of over 30,000 partners.

If there is one key to our journey to building the largest digital media platform in the world, it is mobile. Mobile will represent 80% of c***umers’ media c***umption in the coming years and if we are going to lead, we need to lead in mobile. Over the last 18 months we set a goal of moving AOL into a leading position in mobile, mobile video, and mobile registered c***umers. We are approaching 400 million global c***umers, we have built one of the best advertising platforms in the world, and we have one of the most talented teams in the world – and now it is time for us to fully open up the mobile frontier.

Today, we are announcing that the largest and most innovative wireless and cable company – and the one investing the most in high quality mobile content – is acquiring AOL with the strategy of building the biggest media platform in the world. The company is Verizon and the deal will game-change the size and scale of AOL’s opportunity. Just as AOL has propelled The Huffington Post, Adap.tv, TechCrunch, and other companies we have acquired, Verizon will propel AOL and comes to the table with over 100 million mobile c***umers, content deals with the likes of the NFL, and a meaningful strategy in mobile video.

The decision to enter into an agreement with Verizon was made over a long and thoughtful time period and both companies see significant opportunity to service c***umers and customers in a differentiated and exciting way. On a personal level, the decision to go forward with an agreement was predicated on giving our talent the best opportunity to build a multi-decade business that would be deeply growth oriented and aimed directly at the platform shift that video and mobile are offering the world – today and 20 years from now.

There are two important questi*** you might have at this point in the letter:

1. What does this mean?

2. What does this mean for me (meaning you)?

The deal means we will be a division of Verizon and we will oversee AOL’s current assets plus additional assets from Verizon that are targeted at the mobile and video media space. The deal will not change our strategy – it will expand it greatly. The deal will give our content businesses more distribution and it will give our advertisers more distribution and mobile-first features. The deal will add scale and it will add a mobile lens to everything we do inside of our content, video, and ads strategy.

For you this means growth, it means mobile, and it means compensation that will be equal or better to your AOL compensation. Your benefits will not change in 2015. We will eventually go on Verizon’s benefit plan, but that won’t happen until 2016 or later and we will work with Verizon to make sure the benefits are strong and cover important areas of people's lives. Your job and what you do on a daily basis should be enhanced by the market opportunity this deal is targeted to capture. The simple answer to the question of "what does this mean for you?" should be, "I just got more resources, more support and more growth opportunity."

The leadership at AOL is staying and I am staying – enthusiastically, and we made that part of the deal. We have the opportunity to build a unique and globally scaled media technology company with the scale and resources we need to make that happen. Verizon and AOL are very large partners today – in content, in ads, and in the technology. We know their team well and they know our team well. The cultures share very similar values and are both working on very similar ways to do good while doing well. Diversity and women’s leadership are at the top of both companies’ agendas and we look forward to having a c***umer and industry impact on those important issues.

The future in front of AOL and the industry requires scale, mobile, and video – and partnerships. In our lifetime, we will see the connection of the world on very large and very fast networks – and to play in that world with our strategy requires us to take the natural steps to secure our ability to shoot for the stars. This deal is aimed at the stars and we are going to pursue the joint vision of building the most significant media platform in the world. I have been a buyer of AOL over the last 5 years – and that is an investment in one thing – our talent. We have reviewed every hire coming into the company over the last 5 years and we have taken extraordinary risks and faced extraordinary challenges over the last 5 years. There is nothing more meaningful than watching our team turn-around this great company and restoring it to growth when most people had left it for dead.

AOL is back and now we are joining forces with Verizon to build the best media technology company in the world. Let’s mobilize. - TA