AOL Acquires 5min Media, Gaining Web Video Service
AOL Inc., the Internet company spun off from Time Warner Inc., acquired closely held 5min Media, gaining a video-distribution service to boost advertising.
5min, which has a library of more than 200,000 videos featuring content including fashion, cooking and fitness, has 800 partner sites, New York-based AOL said in a statement today. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
AOL Chief Executive Officer Tim Armstrong has been investing in specialized websites to try to reverse falling display ad sales. Online-video ad spending is forecast to rise to more than $4 billion by 2014 from $1 billion in 2009, AOL said, citing data from researcher eMarketer. 5min, based in New York, had more than 20 million unique U.S. viewers last month.
AOL rose 63 cents to $24.15 at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have gained 3.7 percent this year.
Evercore Partners Inc. advised 5min Media on the transaction.
To contact the reporter on this story: Katie Hoffmann in New York at khoffmann4@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Peter Elstrom at pelstrom@bloomberg.net.
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