AOL & Bertelsmann

Ich stellte mir die Frage, was waere wenn Bertelsmann anfaengt
AOL Anteile zum vertraglich festgelegten Aktienpreis zu verkaufen.
Die Aktie ist um einiges gefallen und sollte Bertelsmann das Recht
ausueben, muesste AOL tief in die Tasche greifen, was sie nicht
koennen. Dadurch wuerde sich die Tuer fuer BERTELSMANN oeffnen und
die koennten als Zahlungsmittel AOL shares akzeptieren und groesster
Anteilseigner werden, oder sehe ich da etwas falsch?

Stox

Among large caps, AOL Time Warner (AOL) was a notable laggard. The media giant lost 6% on concerns it could be forced to spend nearly $7 billion to buy out most of Bertelsmann's stake in the AOL Europe joint venture under options previously granted to the German conglomerate.

NEW YORK -- AOL Time Warner Inc. shares fell 6.1% on concerns about the potential impact of a $5.3 billion payment that AOL will likely owe to Bertelsmann AG by Jan. 31, Tuesday's Wall Street Journal reported.

Last year, AOL (AOL) agreed to a complex deal designed to unwind its AOL Europe joint venture with Bertelsmann. As part of the arrangement, which was revised earlier this year, AOL agreed to a scenario that could require it to pay Bertelsmann $6.75 billion for the German media concern's 49.5% stake in AOL Europe. The bulk of the payment is due in January, with $2.5 billion of it in cash. The remaining $1.45 billion is due July 1.

Since the deal was crafted, at the height of the Internet boom, the perceived value of the AOL Europe operation has fallen significantly. At the time, AOL and Bertelsmann valued the operation -- which sells AOL's online service in Europe -- at at least $13.5 billion and possibly as much as $16.5 billion. Now analysts put the value at between $2 billion and $5 billion.