Verizon to buy AOL for $4.4B; AOL shares soar
Does the deal make sense?
David Bank, managing director at RBC Capital Markets, told CNBC's " Squawk Box" he believes the merger makes sense for Verizon because it expands the company's digital advertising reach.
"This is less about content than about a lot of these mature media platforms needing … new ad tech," Bank said. "Our sense of the industry is, when you look at these partnerships, what's driving them is not so much the content as having a platform for programmatic [advertising]."
Nevertheless, Craig Moffett of Moffett Nathanson Research told CNBC's "Squawk Box" the deal might not move the needle for Verizon. "AOL, when this deal is finished, is going to be something like 1 percent of the enterprise value of Verizon, so it's a small transaction," he said.
—CNBC's Tom DiChristopher contributed to this report.
Does the deal make sense?
David Bank, managing director at RBC Capital Markets, told CNBC's " Squawk Box" he believes the merger makes sense for Verizon because it expands the company's digital advertising reach.
"This is less about content than about a lot of these mature media platforms needing … new ad tech," Bank said. "Our sense of the industry is, when you look at these partnerships, what's driving them is not so much the content as having a platform for programmatic [advertising]."
Nevertheless, Craig Moffett of Moffett Nathanson Research told CNBC's "Squawk Box" the deal might not move the needle for Verizon. "AOL, when this deal is finished, is going to be something like 1 percent of the enterprise value of Verizon, so it's a small transaction," he said.
—CNBC's Tom DiChristopher contributed to this report.