Telekom Scotches T-Online AOL Rumors

Rumors circulating in the German press about a possible acquisition of Internet service provider AOL by Deutsche Telekom’s Internet arm T-Online have been denied by Telekom’s CEO Kai-Uwe Ricke. In an interview with German broadcaster n-tv, Ricke said, "I can tell you there's nothing to these rumors." Speculation on a possible move for AOL by T-Online surfaced in a report in the German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung’s Thursday edition, saying that discussions were at an early stage with AOL mother company Time Warner and that T-Online was “arguably the hottest candidate” for a possible 70-percent stake which would set it back just over €862 million ($1 billion).