Lycos Inc. Friday reportedly made a $45 million proposal
to purchase personal ad site
Matchmaker.com.
If the union is consummated, the purchase would be the latest in a string
of deals executed in recent years by Lycos. Lycos itself is being acquired by Terra Networks of
Spain in a multibillion-dollar transaction.
A Lycos spokesman declined to comment on the offer. Calls to
matchmaker.com were not returned.
Matchmaker.com touts itself as the leading online community enabling
secure connections between people with similar interests and needs.
According to the company, it has more than 4 million registered members with
no less than 40,000 new members joining weekly. Members exchange over 1.5
million letters per week. Matchmaker charges subscription rates of
about $12 a month to list a personal ad on the site.
Discussions of a Lycos acquisition were reportedly initiated in April. At
that time, Lycos
is said to have offered $110 million for the site, but the price has since
dropped, making it one of Lycos’ smaller purchases.