AOL sells Bebo

Los Angeles: Internet company AOL has sold Bebo, the social networking site it bought two years ago for $850 million, to a private investment firm Criterion Capital Partners.

Bebo, which launched in 2005, has failed to match the huge popularity of sites like Facebook and Twitter. Earlier this year, AOL announced plans to sell or shut down Bebo because it was unable to provide the "significant investment" needed to prevent its decline as a business.

The company did not disclose the amount paid, but analysts have speculated that it would be just a fraction of what AOL paid for it.