AOL buying Facebook rival Bebo - Baltimore Business Journal:

framptongeqeaqu1461.blogspot.com
The deal is part of the AOL'd transition away from dial-up Internet access to an advertising-drivenh business as it aims to get a sliced of the competitive socialp media market and togrow internationally. Bebo is one of the largest social networking sites in the United with 40million members. "Bebo is the perfect complementto AOL'sa personal communications network and puts us in a leading positionb in social media," said AOL's chief executive Rand y Falco in a statement. Bebo, founded by Michael and Xochu Birchin 2005, has 100 employees operatinv out of its headquartersx in U.K., San Franciscp and Austin, Texas.
It plans to launcuh in five countriesthis year, accordingb to the statement. Bebo President Joanna Shields will continuwe to leadthat growth. AOL also said it launched 17 international Web sites last year and aims to expand to 30 countries by the endof 2008. AOL, a subsidiaru of (NYSE: TWX) and the parent companhy of Baltimore-based , announced last year it was movingy its headquartersfrom Dulles, Va., to New York by this spring to be in the center of the media world. Although the companyu also cut 2,000 AOL jobs in October, including 750 in Northerb Virginia, it continues to say it will maintain a significant presence at its Dulles campus where thereware 4,000 employees.