Where Are you Now (curiously, the first social networking site I joined) is reported to be in talks with AOL over a $200m acquisition, according to Mike Butcher on TechCrunch UK.
He cites three sources, and although both firms officially deny there is anything in the pipeline Butcher says that could be down to delicate last-minute negotiations over the details.
If true, it would be the biggest UK deal since CBS bought Last.fm. Would it be a good deal for AOL? WAYN has seen traffic improve since it removed mandatory subscription last year, and is backed by, amongst others, by the team behind Cheapflights and LastMinute founder Brent Hoberman. AOL might be seeking to strengthen its presence in key verticals, and travel is a big, lucrative sector. WAYN is arguably very niche, so how does it correspondent with AOL's core userbase? It's a big price for a site with revenues of $4.5m, but maybe it has decided that it has to have a piece of the social networking pie.
This rumour could have been sparked by a meeting or two, but then even if something was in the pipeline it could be knocked on the head by any negative reaction to the rumours. So maybe we'll never know.
Source: TechCrunch UK
