Verizon buying AOL in $4.4 billion deal

Communications giant Verizon said on Tuesday that it was buying AOL for an estimated $4.4 billion, making a move into digital content and advertising.

The deal will give Verizon a broad network producing content and digital video. AOL, which owns content companies like The Huffington Post, Engadget and TechCrunch, also has an advertising platform.

“At Verizon, we’ve been strategically investing in emerging technology … that taps into the market shift to digital content and advertising,” Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam said in a statement. “AOL’s advertising model aligns with this approach, and the advertising platform provides a key tool for us to develop future revenue streams.”

Verizon said it expected the deal, which must still be approved by regulators, to become final “this summer.”

Verizon said earlier this year that it is developing a streaming video app, and in 2014, purchased OnCue, a project developed by Intel, that was seen as part of a strategy to stream video to mobile devices.

— This report was updated at 8:17 a.m.