• Mashable , Wednesday, June 16, 2010 1:16 PM

AOL has found a buyer for Bebo, reports Mashable, citing "sources close to the deal." Two years after dropping $850 million on the social network, AOL announced plans to either sell or scrap the unit back in April. Wall Street Journal reporter Anupreeta Das tweeted that Criterion Capital close to buying Bebo, but the tweet was quickly taken down.

"We're not yet sure who the buyer is, though the timing makes sense," writes Mashable in reference to that fact that AOL said it wanted rid of Bebo this year.In April, the news was included in an annual filing for Bebo in the UK with Companies House. "As a part of that filing, we will indicate that we are currently evaluating strategic alternatives with respect to Bebo, which could include a sale or shutdown of Bebo in 2010," AOL said at the time. Meanwhile, in an internal memo circulated at the time, AOL admitted that social networking had become too challenging a market, and required scale that Bebo lacked. Says Mashable: "Bebo has clearly been a colossal flop for AOL."

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