Ybrant Buys Lycos for $36 Million

HYDERABAD, India, August 17, 2010 /PRNewswire/ --

- Lycos Inc., the Leading Brand of Search-Based Internet Properties and Services.

- Daum Communications Will Focus on Korean Domestic Business Following This Sale.

Ybrant Digital, the end-to-end provider of digital marketing solutions, today announced the signing of the stock purchase agreement to acquire Lycos Inc., the leading brand of search based internet properties and services from Daum Communications. Ybrant's well known brands include Oridian, AdDynamix, dream ad, Max Interactive and VoloMP.

Lycos consistently averages 12-15 million monthly unique visitors in the U.S., and is a top 25 Internet destination worldwide, reaching nearly 60 million unique visitors globally. The Lycos Network of sites and services includes Lycos.com, Tripod, Angelfire, Gamesville, and HotBot. Together, these sites and service help bring people together to interact, to find new friends, and to express themselves in positive, powerful ways.

Daum reorganized the business of Lycos in 2009 and has turned Lycos profitable. As a result of the sale of Lycos, Daum will be able to devote its energy and corporate resources in order to find new potential growth business and future-oriented pipeline such as mobile, LBS, SNS and Search.

"Brand Lycos needs no introduction, we are excited to bring in the Lycos properties into our fold," said Suresh Reddy, Chairman and CEO, Ybrant Digital. "The quality of content and tools offered by Lycos has always attracted the best of the consumers across the world. Our goal is to combine the benefits of Ybrant's global network with what Lycos has to offer in creating a compelling global destination for our advertising clients worldwide. Coupled with our offerings for advertisers, we do present new products to our local users worldwide."

"Ybrant is the absolute perfect partner for us," said Jungwook Lim, CEO of Lycos. "Combining Ybrant's cutting edge digital solutions for both media buyers and sellers with Lycos's innovative resources and media will bring tremendous value to both our consumers and clients."

"As a result of the sale of Lycos, Daum will be able to devote its energy and corporate resources to core domestic businesses including search, mobile services and map," said William Chao, CEO of Daum Communications Corp.

About Ybrant Digital

Ybrant Digital offers Digital Marketing solutions to businesses, agencies, and online publishers worldwide. With over 20 billion impressions a month, our network serves leading brands - SAP, Porsche, Ford, UPS, Swissair, Chevrolet, 3M, Jeep, US Army, LaSalle and Lufthansa, and partners with top online publishers, including MSN, Yahoo!, Viacom, SuperCook, Homestore, Move, 24.7Real Media, United Online, and About.Com. Coupled with direct access to over 120 top ad agencies - OMD, Carat, MediaCom, Group M, Quasar, Razorfish, Mindshare, Maxus, OmniCom and Oglivy, we cover markets throughout Europe, the Americas and Asia. Our proprietary technology platforms help leverage our innovative Digital Media solutions that help businesses to reach the right audiences with the right offer.

Ybrant Digital has a global presence, with offices in 20 countries including North America, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Mexico, UK, France, Germany, Serbia, Israel, India and Australia, and representatives in Scandinavia, Poland, Italy and Greece. For more information, visit the website at http://www.ybrantdigital.com.

About Lycos

Founded in 1995, Lycos is one of the original and most widely-known Internet brands in the world, evolving from one of the first search engines on the web, into a comprehensive network of social media web sites that foster online communities. Lycos's award-winning products and services include tools for video viewing and sharing, social networking, blogging, web publishing and hosting, online games, email, and search.

Lycos consistently averages 12-15 million monthly unique visitors in the U.S. and is a top 25 Internet destination worldwide, reaching nearly 60 million unique visitors globally. The Lycos Network of sites and services include Lycos.com, Tripod, Angelfire, HotBot, The Lycos 50(TM), Gamesville, WhoWhere, Lycos Mail, and Webon. Integrated, these sites help individual users retrieve, manage, consume and create information tailored to meet his or her personal interests.

Lycos has been a pioneer in intelligent spidering search technology, combining its proprietary technology with other best-in-class search services to provide users with a powerful and relevant search experience. Through its acquisitions over the years, Lycos has added established brands to its network of products and services, including Tripod, Angelfire, Gamesville and WhoWhere. For more information, visit the website at http://www.lycos.com.

This press release contains statements that are forward-looking within the meaning of applicable laws and are based on Ybrant Digital's current expectations and assumptions as of this date. Ybrant Digital undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement whether the result of new developments or otherwise. These statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated.

    For more information, contact:

    Rema Sujeeth
    Director, Corporate Communications
    Ybrant Digital, Ltd.
    Tel: +91-40-45678925
    Email: [email protected]

    Sreedhar K V/ Venkat P
    AdfactorsPvt. Ltd.
    Email: [email protected]
    Tel: +91-98480 35385 / +91-9441234562

    Edward Noel
    Chief Strategy Officer
    Lycos Inc.
    Email: [email protected]
    Tel: +1-781-370-2852

SOURCE Ybrant Digital