TechCrunch says it’s not for sale

Alexia Tsotsis and Eric Eldon of the TechCrunch news site report that parent company AOL is not going to sell it.

Tsotsis and Eldon write, “Sure, being um, reporters, we heard the sale rumors too. At some point, Jason Calacanis was also supposedly somehow in, and all the other tech blogs somehow won the Mega Millions and coughed up tens of millions of dollars to buy us … We heard the rumors, but didn’t publish them. It’s actually amazing how much bullshit information/spin is out there (so be careful what you believe).

“So what actually happened? Well according to our sources including Tim Armstrong himself officially, he and a gaggle of Aol folks decided it might be smart to turn TC, Engadget and some other tech properties (including some yet to be acquired) into a separate company/entity, valued at $200 million.

“Because we’re in the middle of these exceptionally exuberant times, they set off to raise money from notable Valley VCs like Andreesen Horowitz and some other prominent angels, $40 million to be exact for a 20% share of whatever this ur-tech blog conglomerate would be. Aol would retain an 80% share according to what I’ve heard about the plan.

“Eventually, as Armstrong alludes to in this Ad Age article, the plan was scrapped, and Aol decided it might be a better idea if it retained 100% ownership of its tech vertical as it views TechCrunch and Engadget as the ‘crown jewels’ of its media properties.”

Read more here.