Now look who is having the last laugh.

The company that grew out of business.com — a search engine used by businesses to find products and services — is now on the auction block, and could fetch anywhere between $300 million and $400 million, according to people familiar with the matter.

Closely held business.com is expected to attract a host of interest from the likes of media companies such as Dow Jones & Co. and New York Times Co., these people said. Requests for comment from Business.com and the New York Times were not returned yesterday evening. Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal, declined to comment.

Business.com does the kind of things publishers are trying to do more of: Drive readers to spend money with merchants who will pay a bounty for the traffic.

Their interest shows how, well into the Internet age, media companies are still eager for properties that can deliver online revenue and growth. Business.com, Santa Monica, Calif., has 2007 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of about $15 million, the people familiar with the matter said, with its online traffic growing by 50% in the first quarter of 2007, compared with the year earlier.

The people familiar with the matter say that the final price for Business.com is hard to predict. But at $350 million, a deal would value the company at some 24 times cash flow. Credit Suisse is running the auction.

Mr. Dayton remains a director. Mr. Winebaum is business.com’s chief executive.

Source:  WSJ

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA and SANTA MONICA, CA–(MARKET WIRE)–Dec 13, 2006 — VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN – News), the leading provider of intelligent infrastructure for the networked world, today announced a strategic alliance with Demand Media to leverage its industry relationships and Web 2.0 expertise to market the .tv Top Level Domain Name (TLD) as the preferred Web address for rich media content. VeriSign will continue to manage the underlying domain name registry for the .tv TLD, including the back end operations and management of the wholesale channel.
The .tv TLD reflects more than the location of a Web site, it reflects the content of that site — in this case, a compelling and entertaining rich media destination.

“VeriSign is very excited to be working with Demand Media to promote .tv — one of the most recognizable domain names in the world,” said Mark McLaughlin, executive vice president, VeriSign. “By creating an intuitive destination for professional and user-generated video content, everyone from social networking communities to leading media portals can instantly attract consumers and new revenue opportunities. The alliance with Demand Media will increase the global visibility of the .tv TLD and its inherent brand value.”

“The Internet media landscape is rapidly evolving and users want to publish and share their personal video content. By registering a .tv domain name and adding video content of their choosing, users can program their own channel,” said Richard Rosenblatt, chairman and CEO, Demand Media. “We are thrilled to leverage the synergy of domain name registration and new media for the benefit of .tv registrants and Internet users worldwide.”

The new alliance, which combines VeriSign’s domain name registry expertise with Demand Media’s innovative new media strategy, will offer companies new revenue streams and consumers more engaging experiences. For case studies and examples of companies and individuals who are using .tv, visit www.tv.

“The Afternic acquisition advances our leadership position in creating an efficient marketplace for small and medium businesses to acquire domain names and insure a compelling digital identity,” said Pete Lamson, the Senior Vice President for NameMedia’s marketplace business.

Roger and Michael Collins, Afternic’s executive team, will remain as leaders of the Afternic business. “We are excited by our new association with NameMedia and BuyDomains,” said Roger Collins, Afternic’s General Manager. “NameMedia is the fastest growing and best managed company in our industry. Our combined offerings, along with planned future products and services, will offer many benefits to our shared customers”.

Lamson said that NameMedia intends to maintain both the Afternic and BuyDomains brands and trading platforms. Afternic members will continue to experience the same level of service and value to which they are accustomed. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, and Afternic will remain in its Florida headquarters.

The Juegos.com domain (games in Spanish) was purchased by Chena Ventures  in 2004 for approximately 825,000 Euros.

The company has launched ProductionBuzz.com  to provide news and information about Film and TV production.  For any information about the availability of Production.com, please send us an email, IM or Skype through our contact page.

Commenting on the transaction, Lawrence Ng, Chief Executive Officer of Oversee.net, said,

“The domain industry is undergoing significant change. While it is consolidating on some fronts, there is escalating interest in the acquisition of domain names and direct navigation traffic. An estimated 10-20% of paid search traffic now comes through direct navigation. This provides a great opportunity for Oversee.net, which has a rich history in this space.  Because we are active in the domain name monetization business, we can better evaluate and find opportunities among domainers who want to achieve immediate liquidity. This deal was executed in record time. Unlike financial players, our technology gives us a distinct advantage in evaluating portfolios. We have the knowledge and resources to close an acquisition in a matter of days.”

Source:  BusinessWire

NameMedia is the new name of BuyDomains.com, a company that was started in Washington, D.C., in 1999 and acquired last year by a pair of venture capital firms, Highland Capital Partners of Lexington and Summit Partners of Boston. During the past year, operating in stealth mode under an interim name of YesDirect, the company moved to Waltham and acquired more domain portfolios and a technology platform for monetizing its sites through advertising. The company has increased its workforce to 75 from about a dozen.

NameMedia, which already is profitable, says it owns more Internet domain names than any other party and draws more than 25 million consumers monthly to its vast collection of websites.

Source: Boston Globe

Source:  CNN