AOL seeks buyer for Bebo which also faces closure
Social networking site Bebo is to be sold off, two years after being acquired by AOL, which is actively trying to find a buyer.
The site, which was acquired two years ago for $850m, could either be sold or shut down later this year, AOL has told its staff through an internal memo which cited a market ‘heavy with competition’ as a reason, with growing smaller sites entering a marketplace dominated by Facebook which had 462.7 million unique users in February alone.
Bebo had 12.8 million unique users in that same month, by comparison.
"Bebo, unfortunately, is a business that has been declining and, as a result, would require significant investment in order to compete in the competitive social networking space. AOL is not in a position at this time to further fund and support Bebo in pursuing a turnaround in social networking," the memo explained.
A decision is expected next month.