Google Creates Spinoff
'HoldCo' will own Google's stake in AOL, revealing structure of deal.
Juan Carlos Perez, IDG News Service
Google will create a limited liability company that will own the $1 billion 5 percent equity interest the search engine giant will acquire in Time Warner's America Online subsidiary.
Moreover, as of July 1, 2008, this new company, which Google calls HoldCo, will be able to register for an initial public offering (IPO), according to a document Google filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission this week.
"If we exercise this right, Time Warner will have the right to purchase our interests for cash or shares of Time Warner stock based on an appraised fair market value of our equity interest in HoldCo in lieu of conducting an initial public offering," the document reads.
Deal Details
The document also provides other details about the much ballyhooed agreement, which was announced on Tuesday:
- Google and AOL expect to finalize all of the agreement's points and transactions in the first calendar quarter of 2006, and to resort to a "binding expedited arbitration procedure" to resolve any disagreements that may arise.
- The terms of the agreement run for five years, including AOL's continued use of Google's engine for general Web searches and AOL's continued distribution of Google paid search ads.
- The agreement to establish interoperability between AOL Instant Messenger and Google Talk service will require that Google Talk users register their user names with AIM to access that network.
Refuting Rumors
Meanwhile, on Thursday, Marissa Mayer, Google's vice president of search products and user experience, posted an item on the company's official blog to dispel what she terms "rumors and misconceptions" about the AOL deal, including the contention that Google will give preferential treatment in its organic search results to AOL Web pages.
"Biased results? No way. Providing great search is the core of what we do. Business partnerships will never compromise the integrity or objectivity of our search results. If a partner's page ranks high, it's because they have a good answer to your search, not because of their business relationship with us," she wrote.
Regarding the agreement to expand display advertising throughout the Google network, and the resulting concern that the famously sparse Google.com will become cluttered, Mayer wrote: "There will be no banner ads on the Google home page or Web search results pages. There will not be crazy, flashy, graphical doodads flying and popping up all over the Google site. Ever."
With HP wireless printers, you could have printed this from any room in the house. Live wirelessly. Print wirelessly.
A Guide to Business IT
PCW Download Guide
Related Browsers & Add-Ons Articles
- Mobile Firefox Enters Testing Next Week Mozilla is readying an alpha release of "Fennec," its mobile Firefox browser.
- Use Gmail to Fight Spam Gmail already offers champion spam-filtering for Gmail accounts. Here's how to leverage it with non-Gmail accounts.
- Sync 'Em 1.00 Released Derman Enterprises has announced the release of Sync 'Em 1.00, a new "sync hub" for Mac OS X. It costs US$14.95 for a license...
- Favorite Firefox Extensions One of the big advantages Firefox 3 holds over Safari is extensibility. Savvy users can customize the browser to look, feel...
- VideoPier Simplifies MPEG-2/AVCHD Camcorder Use Aquafadas has announced the release of VideoPier and VideoPier HD, two new utilities designed to help users of camcorders that...
Best Prices on System Utilities
VMware Fusion (Full Product, Mac)Price: $41.99
Windows Live OneCare 2.0 (Full Product)Price: $23.78
Norton Partition Magic 8.0 Rev1RetailPrice: $17.99
Parallels Desktop (Full Product)Price: $20.00
Norton SystemWorks 11.0 (Full Product)Price: $26.95
Dragon Naturally Speaking Standard 9.0 (Full Product)Price: $54.95
- Web Demo: Discover the Benefits of VoIP Is your company looking for a world class VoIP communications solution that will meet all of your business requirements? If so, join us for our Live Online Demo where you will receive a "guided tour" to the AltiGen Solution.
- PC World Webcast: Going Green Wondering how to make your business greener? These tips will help your business save money, and save the environment.
- A Windows Vista FAQ Corporate customers are deploying Windows Vista now, and Dell Services wants to help you understand the features of the new OS and how to plan your Windows Vista deployment.




"Google Creates Spinoff" Comments