Google and Comcast in talks to buy stake in AOL

Google and cable company Comcast are in discussions to buy a stake in Time Warner's America Online (AOL), two sources said, in a deal reportedly worth as much as $5 billion.

An investment would set the stage for an alliance marrying Time Warner's trove of programming and Google's popular search and e-mail services with Comcast's high-speed internet portal and experience in cable video distribution and telecommunications. It would also create a powerful new challenge to internet media company Yahoo and software giant Microsoft.

Under one idea, Google and Comcast would jointly own half of the AOL's web businesses, though Time Warner would retain a controlling stake, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Google and Comcast are valuing AOL's content business at about $10 billion, which implies a valuation of as much as $5 billion for the minority stake, the WSJ said.

One source close to the deal, however, told Reuters that Google and Comcast could make an investment in the entire AOL business, which would lift the deal value to more than $5 billion.

Time Warner and Comcast declined comment.