YBrant buys Lycos for a cheap $36 million!

By | 17 August, 2010

When I first saw this news popping in my reader, I thought there was more than one Lycos. Then it popped again and I said you can’t be serious. How can someone buy Lycos for $36 million. Third time I saw it, I couldn’t ignore it any further. Yes it is the Lycos one of the oldest Internet companies which survived the boom. It is bought by one of the newest Internet companies, Ybrant. Lycos was bought for $36 million by India’s digital space company YBrant.

I knew Lycos before I knew Google. Lycos is that old. In fact, Netscape, Lycos, Dogpile are a few of the first Internet companies to strike it rich but faded after that. Lycos’s story has followed the ups and downs of the Internet boom. Lycos was first sold to Terra Networks in 2000 and later to Korea’s Duam communications in 2004 for $95 million.

YBrant is the rising star which started its operations in 2000 as USA Greetings (India) Private Limited. It later changed its name to YBrant and also shifted its focus to search engine marketing and digital ad space. YBrant serves 20 billion digital impressions per month and has access to the top 100 ad networks and collaborates with many of them.

YBrant believes in growing through acquisitions and has quite a few acquisitions to its credit. Its most recent acquisition was a leading Australian ad network – Max Interactive Pvt Ltd. Previously it acquired AdDynamix for $10m, MediosOne, Oridian, Seenietix and dream ad.

What does Lycos offer YBrant?
Lycos bolsters YBrant’s position in search marketing space and YBrant will tap into Lycos’s ad inventory. Lycos has 12 million to 15 million unique visitors every month just from the US. Lycos has 60 million unique users globally. YBrant which has a presence in 20 countries will use Lycos to improve its its position.

YBrant submitted a draft red herring prospectus to be listed on Indian stock exhanges in 2007. Considering the SKS Microfinance IPO and other recent IPO’s, IPO appetite has increased in India. It might not be at the 2006 levels but it’s much better than 2008. Maybe YBrant should reinvigorate its IPO plans?



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