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Verizon is ready to give up Yahoo and AOL, after spending over $9 billion on the former giants that fell out of the public eye years before Verizon paid to acquire them.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Verizon is exploring the sale of assets that include AOL and Yahoo, as it looks to exit an expensive and unsuccessful bet on digital media.

The sale process involves the private equity firm Apollo Global Management and could result in a deal worth $4 to $5 billion, according to sources close to the matter.

Vague bits of information

Ars Technica reached out to Verizon about the sale but a spokesperson responded that the company had nothing to add. The WSJ report is a bit vague. The headline says that Verizon is exploring the sale of parts of Yahoo and AOL and did not contain any information suggesting what those parts may be.

Bloomberg wrote that Apollo Global Management is in talks with Verizon about a deal but it is not clear immediately how the deal will be structured or if other buyers my emerge. It adds that Verizon could opt to keep the unit since no final decision has been made.

Verizon’s future

Verizon’s media division was fueled by acquisitions that did not compete effectively against Facebook and Google in the advertisement market. The media division began to crack at the seams by the end of 2018 when it said that Oath experienced increased competition and market pressures that led to lower earnings.

A non-cash goodwill impairment charge of about $4.6 billion wiped out nearly all of Oath’s goodwill value. Since then, Verizon has been doing everything it can to focus on its core business and offload its failing media acquisitions.