Source: Digg hires bank, hoping to sell for $300 million or more

December 17, 2007 | Eric Eldon | Comments |
|

digglogo12.pngIt’s been a little more than a month since the last rumors surfaced about social news site Digg trying to sell itself for at least $300 million.

A reliable source just confirmed the company’s plans, noting the company has hired Allen & Company, a tiny but influential private investment firm, to help broker a deal. The asking price is still $300 million, the source said.

This will come as no surprise. Rumors of a sale have been rampant for months, although until now we hear co-founder Jay Adelson has been trying to muster up interest in a sale. This is the first time Digg has hired a bank to shop the deal, we’re told.

Valleywag reported the $300 million rumor last month. Separately, it reported Digg chief executive Jay Adelson’s attendance at Allen & Company’s annual Sun Valley, Idaho get-together of the rich and famous, noting the company might be looking to find a buyer among one of the many media company executives in attendance.

Allen & Company traditionally uses the event to do what it terms “direct research” on potential buyers and sellers, then inserts itself as banker.

For more on the history of Digg rumors (including a suggestiong to “Hire A Banker. Sell This Thing, Already”), see Techcrunch’s post from last month.

We asked Digg founder Kevin Rose about a potential sale, and Allen & Company’s involvement. He told us, unsurprisingly, that “we never comment on things related to acquisitions.”

Next Story:
Previous Story:

Email
Print
Bookmark
Google
Delicious
Facebook
Twitter
StumbleUpon
MySpace
Digg
Live
More…

Tags: , , ,

Photo of Eric Eldon

About the Author, Eric Eldon

Eric currently covers digital media technology and business news, especially what's happening on social networks and their platforms. He also writes and edits stories about venture capital, and lots of other stuff, too. He started at VentureBeat in the spring of 2007, half a year or so after Matt Marshall left his reporting job at the San Jose Mercury News to found the site. Eric previously cofounded a startup called Writewith, that was building editorial software for newspapers and other groups of writers. The startup didn't work out, but he learned a lot.

  • Eric Hunter
    Google will purchase Digg.
  • I like digg, but they should have sold long ago.
  • Digg is one of the, if not THE, most powerful marketing mainlines into the internet, and that's after others like Reddit and Netscape's failed foray had time to gain ground.

    The sun still very much shines on Digg.
  • Yup agree that Digg is definitely still miles ahead of newer services; take the point on board that perhaps they could have sold some time ago, but should still be able to snap a good deal from one of the internet mega-players..

    Alex J
    Find freelance jobs today
  • I have written previously and again i believe these are the top 5 players in hunting for digg.
    http://www.sharmavishal.com/2006/10/top-5-proba...
  • It's not the billion dollar valuation they were seeking last year, but it's probably not a bad time to sell Digg since I don't think the site is going to improve much more than it already has - and if anything - it will go down in time as it's model is copied more and more.

    I'd sell now - 300 Million in your hands is worth more than a Billion Dollars you'd never get.
  • It is the perfect time to sell Digg, seeing as other sites are encroaching on their territory, and they are extremely popular right now. Recent trends suggest Digg might be going down soon.
  • Oprah
    The dirty little secret about news sites is that they dont make any money so what is the value? Only a sucker would buy digg for $300 million. MSNBC just bought newsvine for like 5 million. Newroo was bought for 12 million. Newsbuzz was purchased for 5 million. You could buy congoo.com, brietbart.com or another news aggregator for like 10 million.
  • OOM
    Oprah made a very good note. What's the value of any such website considering that the revenues they generate are roughly $50 mil. a year, if they reach 50... How can one properly assess the value of something that generates no money? Or should the buyers buy for fame and exposure rather than for making profits?
  • peter
    I heard that kevin, has started a website similar to digg, www.opentopix.com
  • If Digg is sold will it just become on jumbled mess of crap owned by giant corporations? This is a possiblity.
  • That's cool, these web 2.0 sites are really worth much right now.
  • Ramon
    Why are the sites worth 10 mi? because of the domain value, technology, brand, audience and still is profitable. They call this long-term / mid-term investment, it's the basis of venture capitalism and the base for venture buyouts.
  • jon
    Thats a lot of money/!
  • Classified Ads Of Indonesia - Free Ads Media For Every Body.

    Promosikan Usaha Anda, Baik Jasa, Produk, Property, Otomotif, Tempat Bisnis dan lainnya untuk kemajuan dalam berbisnis. Pasang Iklan online gratis di:
    http://www.indocentralmedia.com
  • Yes that is a lot of money, Why is it worth so much?

    http://bigloanguide.com
  • I thing Digg is a great site because you get a lot of information from it but that seems like a lot of money. But I guess it gets a lot of people who use it so maybe it is worth that much.

    thanks, Bryan
    http://makemoneydirect.net
  • Digg I think will stay around as one of the top social networking sites because it is so easy to use and easy to navigate.

    thanks so much
    Mary
    http://bestbargainsever.com
  • Digg is a caricature of itself. Bored people clicking their boring mouses to make believe they're somehow important.
  • Yes Digg is one of the biggest of its kind
    thanks, Marina
    7852-4445
    http://116th.org
  • I sue Digg a lot and think it is one of the best social sites around
    http://findanotherjob.com
  • Web 2.0 seems the way to go wow
    http://elovemagic.com
  • Digg I think will stay around as one of the top social networking sites because it is so easy to use and easy to navigate.
    But when I stand in front of you
  • Digg is here to stay for sure
    http://findadietplan.com
  • digg is just great!! should sell for more!
  • Ok so did it sell for that amount!? digg is a great site though!
  • Dont invest in shares, build a functional social media site. Digg is worth every dollar!
  • edsion007
    Hmmm.. why it has to do with twitter so much?
  • lucky
    I love dig, however,it's time to sell dig.
  • Great article... I love digg!
  • $ 300 million, a fantastic price. friendster already in acquisition. digg going on acquisitions as well?.
  • $ 300 million? Very Fantastic. digg is just great!
  • I want to succeed as those who have been successful
  • Good post! Thanks for your information!
  • I enjoy reading your article, very inspiring information
    Thank you
  • i like digg, but i havent digg account.. :)

    http://azaxs.net/journal
  • Onkian
    Thats fantastic
  • Thats great number
  • This is very useful for me,
    thank you very much,
    I think you will be successful！
  • very inspiring information! Thank You.
  • niuzai03
    The site you are Ed Hardy Shoes Ed Hardy Shoesattempting to access has been
    Ed Hardy T Shirts Ed Hardy T Shirtsshut down due to the former Ed Hardy Tops Ed Hardy Topsdomain owner’s improper use of Ed Hardy Swimwears Ed Hardy SwimwearsEd Hardy intellectual Ed Hardy Hoodies Ed Hardy Hoodiesproperty. To purchase ed hardy ed hardyauthentic and licensed ed hardy clothing ed hardy clothingand Christian Audigier christian audigier christian audigierproducts, please visit the ed hardy womens ed hardy womensofficial Ed Hardy and Christian Audigier ed hardy kids ed hardy kidsbrands’ online stores by clicking the links below.
blog comments powered by Disqus