Counter to the popular view that the AOL-Time Warner merger was one of the worst predictable merger disasters in history, I’ve long argued that the merger made perfect sense but was poorly implemented – largely because top management under-managed the post-transaction combination.
Now, Nicholas Jackson says in The Atlantic that “Maybe, a Second AOL-Time Warner Marriage Would Work Better”
Why?
“When the two companies first merged back in 2001, they had competing interests. Today, they’re both focused on creating content.”
He says:
The idea behind the 2001 merger sounded perfect: one of the world’s largest distributors of online content meets one of the world’s most recognized content-making companies.
But the companies were too different, and their mismatch led to failure.
Now, everything has changed.
AOL is, primarily, a content company.
“AOL is singularly focused on becoming the next great media company for the digital age, being rich, engaging and easy to find content and experiences for consumers and best-in-class environment for advertisers,”
Bottom line: Merging two content companies might make sense, and TW has the resources to re-acquire AOL.
Unlikely, but interesting ….
The Homa Files 