^^^▲ 회사로고AOL과 구글의 회사로고 ⓒ 뉴욕타임즈^^^

구글과 세계 최대 미디어 회사인 타임워너(AOL의 모회사) 양측 회사의 5년 계약 중 2년 반이 경과하면 구글은 공개 주식 시장에서 AOL 지분을 매각할 수 있게 조항을 맺은 바 있다.

이에 반해 타임워너는 현금 또는 감정 가치만큼의 타임워너 주식을 주고 AOL 주식을 되사들일 바이백(buyback) 옵션을 갖게 된다.

오늘(27일) 양측 회사는 구글이 AOL지분 5%를 10억 달러에 인수할 것이라고 밝혔고 이것은 광고 지원 웹 사이트로 변화를 시도하려는 AOL의 계획에 대한 신뢰의 축으로 여겨진다.

이러한 양사의 계약과 진행과정에 대해 뉴욕타임스는 에드 애들러 타임워너 대변인의 말을 인용하여 '통상적 조항'이라고 전했다.

AOL의 지분 매각 가능성 때문에 파생될 경제적 손익을 생각하고 있는 딕 파슨스(타임워너 대표)는 “구글의 투자가 미래에 AOL 지분 매각 시 긍정 또는 부정적 영향을 미치지 않을 것이다”라고 말했다.

한편, CNN뉴스의 ‘CNN머니’는 AOL과 마찬가지로 뉴욕의 타임워너 계열사이다.

[뉴욕타임즈 원문내용]-----------------------------------------

Google Will Have the Right to Sell Its 5% Stake in AOL by 2008

Google will have the right to sell its new 5 percent stake in America Online as soon as July 1, 2008, according to regulatory filings yesterday by both Google and Time Warner, AOL's parent.

On Tuesday, the companies announced that Google would buy the stake in AOL for $1 billion, saying the move represented a vote of confidence in AOL's plans to transform itself from a shrinking provider of dial-up Internet access into a series of advertising-supported Web sites.

The filings say that starting two and a half years into the five-year agreement, Google will have the right to force Time Warner to register its shares in AOL with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This would allow Google to sell the shares on the public market. Time Warner has the option to buy the shares back for cash or Time Warner shares at an appraised value.

On Tuesday, when the deal was announced, Eric E. Schmidt, the chief executive of Google, said in an interview that "we are long-term investors" in AOL.

In an e-mail statement yesterday, Lynn Fox, a Google spokeswoman, said: "In private equity investments it is common to have a set of investor rights similar to the ones we have. This does not mean that there is an intent to exercise the rights."

Edward I. Adler, a Time Warner spokesman, described the term as a "standard clause" of such investments, noting that Comcast, which owns a stake in Time Warner Cable, has the right to force Time Warner to register those shares.

On Tuesday, Richard D. Parsons, the chief executive of Time Warner, said the investment by Google neither encouraged nor discouraged selling a stake in AOL to the public in the future.

Mr. Parsons and other Time Warner executives have discussed whether it might be an advantage for AOL to have its own shares trading because it could use that stock for making acquisitions.

The regulatory filing also noted that the deal so far was only a preliminary "letter agreement" and that the two companies planned to negotiate a definitive agreement in the first quarter of 2006.

It says that the companies have agreed to enter "binding expedited arbitration" to resolve any disagreements about the final terms. Mr. Adler described this term as well as standard.