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     This story was printed from CdrInfo.com,

     located at http://www.cdrinfo.com.

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AOL will sell social network site Bebo to private investment firm Criterion Capital Partners (CCP) for $850m, the company announced today.

As part of the deal, CCP will assume the rights and complete operating control over the global social platform business.

"The young, highly active user base, revenue history, presence in countries throughout the world and solid technical infrastructure make it an attractive media platform both as a standalone entity and in the context of our broader investment objectives," said Adam Levin, managing partner at CCP.

"Criterion Capital Partners are specialists in facilitating growth plans and turnarounds, and are well placed to drive Bebo?s effort to strengthen its foothold within the highly competitive social networking arena," said Tim Armstrong, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, AOL.

Bebo launched in 2005 and was acquired by AOL in March 2008 for $850 million. It is a social media network that combines community, connections, self-expression and entertainment via a range of social tools, games and a growing mobile platform. Since then, Bebo has struggled to compete effectively against social networking rivals such as Facebook.