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AOL, Microsoft ink $1.06 bil deal
AOL stock jumps 35% after patent pact
By: Associated Press
Posted On: Apr. 9, 2012
AOL said Monday that it has agreed to sell 800 of its patents and their related applications to Microsoft and grant it a license for its remaining patents for a total about $1.06 billion in cash.
AOL said it plans to return some of the sale proceeds to its shareholders.
The company's shares jumped $6.46, or 35%, to $24.77 in premarket trading. Microsoft shares slipped 22 cents to $31.30.
After the sale, AOL said it will still hold over 300 patents and applications covering a variety of core and strategic technologies including advertising, search, content generation, social networking, mapping, multimedia, and security among others.
AOL also received a license to the patents being sold to Microsoft.
Tim Armstrong, AOL's chairman and chief executive, said the deal with Microsoft resulted from a 'robust' auction of the company's patents. He said the company's license agreement with Microsoft shows that it still holds a valuable patent portfolio.
'The combined sale and licensing arrangement unlocks current dollar value for our shareholders and enables AOL to continue to aggressively execute on our strategy to create long-term shareholder value,' Amstrong said in a statement.
AOL said it will determine the best way to distribute a 'significant portion' of the sale proceeds to shareholders before the sale closes, which is expected to happen by the end of this year.
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