AOL to buy Bebo for $850m

Internet company AOL has announced it is to acquire social networking site Bebo for $850m (£427m). AOL says the deal will give it a “premier position” in social media.

Bebo has around 40 million users worldwide and is the third most popular US social media site and the sixth in the UK, according to Nielsen Online figures. The company has around 100 employees operating in offices in the UK and the US.

AOL chairman and chief executive Randy Falco says: “Bebo is the perfect complement to AOL’s personal communication network and puts us in a leading position in social media.” He adds: “This positions us to offer advertisers even greater reach and marketers significant insights into the desires and needs of consumers.”

Bebo president Joanna Shields will continue to run the social media company after the deal is closed and will report to Ron Grant, the president and chief operating officer of AOL