NEW YORK (Reuters) – Here’s one deal AOL won’t do: go private.

AOL Chief Executive Tim Armstrong struck down the idea that it would pursue a deal with private equity firms similar to the deal contemplated last fall that would have combined it with Yahoo.

“We are not focused on a private equity deal now,” AOL Chief Executive Tim Armstrong said during the Reuters Global Technology Summit in New York. “We are focused on a turnaround and we’re pretty excited about the business overall.”

NEW YORK, May 16 (Reuters) – Here’s one deal AOL won’t do:
go private.

AOL (AOL.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Chief Executive Tim Armstrong struck down the
idea that it would pursue a deal with private equity firms
similar to the deal contemplated last fall that would have
combined it with Yahoo (YHOO.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

NEW YORK (Reuters) – AOL Inc (AOL.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is expanding its local news network, Patch, with the launch of 33 sites in targeted states as the United States gears up for a national election.

The Patch sites are rolling out in communities in New Hampshire, Iowa and South Carolina — key states that play an early role in the U.S. presidential election.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Yahoo Inc’s battle with Alibaba Group intensified on Friday as they issued contradictory statements over the Chinese company’s transfer of a major Internet asset to its chief executive.

Analysts said the handover of Alipay, an online e-commerce payment system similar to eBay Inc’s PayPal, to Alibaba Chief Executive Jack Ma has reduced the value of Yahoo’s 43 percent Alibaba stake. Alibaba also operates China’s largest e-commerce company, Alibaba.com Ltd.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – China’s Alibaba Group said it told its board in July 2009 that it had transferred ownership of its online e-commerce business to Chief Executive Jack Ma, rejecting allegations by major shareholder Yahoo Inc (YHOO.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) that it had been blindsided by the deal.

Yahoo, which owns 43 percent of Alibaba Group and holds a board seat, said on Thursday that it had not been informed of the deal until March 2011.

NEW YORK, May 11 (Reuters) – Alibaba Group’s latest message
to Yahoo (YHOO.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) sounds a lot like the last one: it wants its
shares back.

CEO Jack Ma took full control of one of China’s largest
online payment businesses, Alipay, from the Alibaba Group,
Yahoo said in a government filing on Tuesday. The U.S. online
search engine’s shares fell as much as 9.8 percent on Wednesday
as a result.

NEW YORK, May 10 (Reuters) – Skype’s owners, led by private
equity firm Silver Lake , are set to earn more than
three times their investment, for a total capital gain of more
than $5 billion, on the sale of Skype to Microsoft Corp
, a source familiar with the situation said.

The gain is particularly large considering the short amount
of time the investors have owned internet phone service Skype –
around 18 months — since buying a majority stake from eBay
. That is a short turnaround for private equity which
typically invests with a time horizon of three to five years.

NEW YORK/BANGALORE (Reuters) – LinkedIn Corp, the social site for business professionals, is hoping to cash in with investors eager to gobble up shares in sites such as Facebook, with a public debut valuing the company at more than $3 billion.

LinkedIn, which attracts professionals and job seekers with 100 million worldwide members, said on Monday it would offer 7.84 million shares priced between $32 and $35 apiece. It is generating significant interest as one of the first social networking companies to start the process of being publicly traded — ahead of the much-anticipated Facebook IPO.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – As two Internet powerhouses slug it out to tie the knot with Skype, Facebook looks likely to be a more aggressive suitor than Google, and the world’s largest social network may make for a better fit.

Reuters reported Wednesday that Facebook and Google are separately weighing partnerships with Skype, the popular web video telephony service used by millions around the globe for communication.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – As two Internet powerhouses slug it out to tie the knot with Skype, Facebook looks likely to be a more aggressive suitor than Google (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), and the world’s largest social network may make for a better fit.

Reuters reported Wednesday that Facebook and Google are separately weighing partnerships with Skype, the popular web video telephony service used by millions around the globe for communication.