Google's owned a five percent stake in AOL for the better part of three years. Now, thanks to the passage of time and the terms of their partnership, the search giant's getting the option of escaping.
Reuters reports, "A clause in Google's 2005 purchase agreement for the AOL stake gives the Web search leader the right, but not the obligation, to force a public offering of the shares or a repurchase at fair market value beginning July 1, 2008."
So it seems as if few people will be encouraging Google to separate itself from AOL. But this option is something to keep in mind, at least, if anything interesting happens to either company.
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