Search engine, internet portal and web service company Lycos has been sold by Daum Communications to Indian digital marketing firm Ybrant Digital for a reported US$36m following the signing of a stock purchase agreement.
Lycos, founded in 1994, was one of the original internet portals and search engines but its popularity waned in the late Nineties.
It was eventually sold off in 2004 to Korea-based Daum Communications having briefly become known as Terra Lycos following a purchase by Spanish company Terra Networks.
Lycos was well known for its network services including Angelfire, which provided free web hosting and website creation tools in an online community context, long before blogging and social networks evolved into what they are today.
It also owns a similar service called Tripod.com, initially aimed at students looking to create an online presence for free.
Jungwook Lim, CEO of Lycos, said of the acquisition: “Ybrant is the absolute perfect partner for us. Combining Ybrant’s cutting-edge digital solutions for both media buyers and sellers with Lycos’ innovative resources and media will bring tremendous value to both our consumers and clients.”
What Ybrant hopes to do with the Lycos acquisition is to use the search engine-based portal to offer new content and tools to its advertising clients worldwide.
