Google Search Engine Could Sell AOL Stake in 2008

Google Inc, which just completed it’s merger with AOL, giving Google a 5 percent stake in AOL, could sell that stake as soon as 2008, this per documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Per the agreement for the purchase of the $1 billion stake, Google can legally change its stake as of July 1, 2008, to require a public offering of its stake, according to Google's filing on Friday with the SEC. The deal gives Time Warner the right to buy Google's stake for stock or cash in lieu of a public offering, according to the filing documents. On December 20, AOL and Google had agreed to Google’s investment of $1 billion to take a 5 percent stake. The deal is part of a pact for Google to move beyond text-based advertising, and to allow AOL to sell graphical ads to Google's ever-growing ad network. The stake effectively valued AOL at $20 billion, a key benchmark if Time Warner elects to spin off or sell a part of its Internet unit in response to dissident shareholder Carl Icahn's proxy campaign to break up the company. Icahn was against the merger between Google and AOL. By Patricia Fuller Jump2Top.Com Search Engine Optimization Company

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