AOL, infamous for terrible investments, announced in April that they were planning to either sell or shut down the social networking site Bebo, which they bought for $850 million in 2008.
Today, reports are circulating that AOL has found a buyer for the service, Criterion Capital Partners, who will buy Bebo for $10 million USD, leaving AOL with a 98.8 percent loss on their original investment.
Despite that outstanding loss, the sale will give AOL the ability to write off the original purchase for tax purposes, saving over $300 million in corporate taxes in the process.
At the time of the acquisition, AOL was still part of Time Warner, part of a merger that many have called the worst deal of all-time. (AOL had to take a $99 billion dollar loss in 2002.)
Bebo saw less than 5 million unique visitors last month, compared to 120 million for Facebook, and Bebo continues to see declining traffic every month.
Despite that outstanding loss, the sale will give AOL the ability to write off the original purchase for tax purposes, saving over $300 million in corporate taxes in the process.
At the time of the acquisition, AOL was still part of Time Warner, part of a merger that many have called the worst deal of all-time. (AOL had to take a $99 billion dollar loss in 2002.)
Bebo saw less than 5 million unique visitors last month, compared to 120 million for Facebook, and Bebo continues to see declining traffic every month.
