America Online has completed its acquisition of CompuServe, AOL announced today. With the closing of the deal, AOL officially adds CompuServe's 2.5 million members to its subscription rolls, already more than 11 million strong.

　　AOL announced that CompuServe would remain a separate brand. It also announced a new president of CompuServe, Mayo S. Stuntz Jr., most recently executive vice president and chief operating officer for the real estate company Century 21. Mr. Stuntz also spent time as an executive VP for the business and strategic development arm of Time Warner, where he was involved with the company's investment in 3DO and in the development of Court TV and the Quincy Jones Entertainment Company.

　　Before those announcements were even made, however, came rumors that AOL would be laying off 300 CompuServe workers, or 20 percent of that company's workforce. The Wall Street Journal quoted an unidentified CompuServe executive to that effect on Friday. AOL did not confirm or deny the rumors.

　　The acquisition of CompuServe by AOL began when WorldCom acquired CompuServe from H&R Block. WorldCom then swapped CompuServe's worldwide online services and US$175 million for AOL's network services subsidiary ANS Communications. AOL has strengthened its ties with WorldCom as a result of the deal; the two companies have entered into a five-year strategic partnership and are collaborating on the deployment of a new broadband network.