Microsoft planning to buy AOL?

Time Warner may have found a way to unload AOL, or at the very least invigorate it a bit: sell a portion of the long-suffering Internet service provider to Microsoft. The New York Post, citing "two sources familiar with the matter," says that Time Warner and Microsoft are in "advanced discussions" about such a deal. Under the terms being discussed, Time Warner would be equal partners with Microsoft in a combined AOL/MSN Internet unit. While the deal could fall apart, the sources told the Post, the two companies are hopeful they can finalize it in the next couple of months. This all came as news to a "source close to the discussion," who told Reuters that there was no deal in the works. "There have been talks on ways Microsoft and AOL assets can be better leveraged and they've taken place over the normal course of business," the source said, calling reports of a joint venture between the two companies "way overblown."

Source: sv.com