AOL announced on Friday, the expiration of its modified “Dutch Auction” tender offer for the repurchase of up to $400 million in common stock. It expired on 5:00 P.M. (Eastern) on Thursday evening.

Additionally, the company’s Board approved a $550 million stock repurchase program, and AOL reaffirmed its commitment to returning $1.1 billion to shareholders by the end of the year.

CEO Tim Armstrong said, “Our strong operational and financial performance is translating into long-term value creation for our shareholders. We continue to focus on executing our strategy and improving our operations, and remain committed to returning 100% of the patent transaction proceeds to shareholders by year-end.”

In Q2, the company saw its lowest rate of revenue decline (2%) in seven years. You can see AOL’s earnings report here.

COO and acting CFO Artie Minson added, “We will continue to be disciplined and prudent stewards of shareholders’ capital and the new repurchase authorization allows us to maximize our flexibility in that regard. As we have previously communicated, we will approach the return of the patent transaction proceeds in multiple steps and potentially through several methods, and we will do so in a manner which we believe will drive value for shareholders while preserving the value of AOL’s substantial tax assets.”

“We are confident that given the different alternatives of returning the patent transaction proceeds to shareholders that we can return 100% of the proceeds by year-end 2012 without affecting our valuable tax attributes,” Minson added.

AOL’s ad revenue grew 6% for the quarter, marking the fifth consecutive quarter of growth. It grew by 9% year-over-year. Armstrong called the company’s latest results a significant milestone for AOL.

Image: BBDO Digital Lab (YouTube).