Citing an unmet deadline for the acquisition of enough shares to proceed, AOL announced it has backed out of its bid to acquire online marketing firm TradeDoubler AB, reports Reuters.
The takeover was first announced in January, with AOL saying it would buy the company for $900 million in cash. But resistance from some shareholders in TradeDoubler prevented AOL from purchasing enough shares to meet the 90 percent benchmark.
AOL had been hoping that TradeDoubler would help its online ad presence in Europe improve as it continues to shift from subscription to ad revenue.
TradeDoubler executives say the company will do just fine in the online market as an independent company.