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New York: AOL announced on Thursday that the company has acquired social-networking site Bebo for $850 million.
Bebo, which claims a global membership of about 40 million users, is the top social network in Britain, Ireland and New Zealand. It is No. 3 in the United States behind News Corp's MySpace and Facebook.
Joanna Shields, president of Bebo, will continue to run the social network. She will report to Ron Grant, president and chief operating officer of AOL.
"Bebo is the perfect complement to AOL's personal communications network and puts us in a leading position in social media," said AOL chairman and CEO Randy Falco in a statement.
AOL has made it clear that this is a move geared toward international growth, as the youth-oriented Bebo is wildly popular in the UK, Ireland, and New Zealand.
AOL reported that it has launched "17 international web sites over the last year and has plans to expand to 30 countries outside the US by the end of 2008," as well as international versions of its home page and some services.
Bebo, which has announced plans to launch in five countries this year, will be featured prominently in AOL's international expansion efforts after the deal is closed.
The deal was brokered on AOL's side by Bank of America Securities and Deutsche Bank Securities. Bebo had hired investment bank Allen & Co. when it opted to put itself up for sale.
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