Yahoo is in advanced talks to sell AOL to Italian app developer Bending Spoons in a deal valued at around $1.4 billion, according to Reuters. The move signals that Apollo Global Management, which owns 90% of Yahoo after acquiring the company from Verizon for $5 billion in 2021, may be repositioning the brand’s long-term strategy around its most defensible asset: email.
The Deal in Context
AOL, once synonymous with the early internet and its “You’ve Got Mail” alert, has recently exited dial-up access, closing the service finally on September 30th 2025. What remains is a digital media and subscription bundle anchored by AOL.com, advertising inventory, and ancillary subscription services such as LifeLock identity theft protection, LastPass, and McAfee Multi Access. AOL Mail continues to operate, but it has a smaller footprint compared with Yahoo Mail.
Bending Spoons, valued at $2.55 billion after its 2024 funding round, has become one of Europe’s most aggressive consolidators in consumer tech. Its acquisitions include WeTransfer and, more recently, Vimeo for $1.38 billion. Adding AOL’s portal traffic and subscription revenues would fit with its pattern of taking on established but underperforming digital assets.
What’s Not for Sale
The likely centrepiece of Apollo’s Yahoo strategy is Yahoo Mail. Unlike AOL’s legacy service, Yahoo Mail remains a major global email provider with tens of millions of active users, a modern ad-supported interface, and ongoing product development. Yahoo has consistently promoted Mail as a key growth product in its consumer portfolio.
The AOL divestiture suggests a sharpening of focus. By shedding media and subscription brands inherited from the Verizon Oath era, Apollo can concentrate resources on sustaining and expanding Yahoo Mail, where user engagement and advertising potential are stronger.
Precedent for Carve-Outs
Past sales provide clues. In 2022, Verizon (then the parent of Yahoo and AOL) sold its Small Business Essentials unit—including business email—to Infinite, rebranded as Turbify. This shows that email services can be transferred as part of a divestiture. However, in this case the strategic calculus is different: AOL Mail is not a core growth property, whereas Yahoo Mail is. It would be logical for Apollo to retain Yahoo Mail while offloading AOL’s portal and ancillary subscriptions.
Why It Matters for Email Professionals
If the deal proceeds, Yahoo’s reduced portfolio could mean:
- Clearer strategic focus on Yahoo Mail. Expect more investment in features, deliverability, and ad monetisation.
- Market simplification. AOL Mail may be bundled in the sale or run down over time, consolidating attention around Yahoo Mail as the flagship.
- Signal to the industry. Legacy portals and content brands are increasingly less central, while email remains a durable, monetisable, and strategic service.
Outlook
Negotiations are ongoing, and terms could shift. Neither Yahoo, Apollo, nor Bending Spoons has commented publicly. Still, the trajectory is clear: Apollo appears to be reshaping Yahoo around a streamlined identity where email is the asset worth doubling down on.
