Photosharing and social networking site Fotolog to be sold to french Hi-Media Group for $90 million

While the small stock photo world is talking about Getty Images´new revamped website and the new low-priced web resolution images, the big news today, now official after earlier rumors, is the agreement that the french interactive media company and electronic micropayment solution provider Hi-Media Group will acquire Fotolog for $90 million.

 

Fotolog (online since spring 2002 with expected 2007 revenues of $2.3 million) was mainly financed by 3i Venture Capital and BV Capital with three rounds of funding, and investors were finally looking for an exit strategy.

Three details are interesting:

• The buyer of NY-based Fotolog is not a US search or media giant like in the case of Yahoo/Flickr and Fox Interactive Media/Photobucket (details) since both in contrast are more popular in the US than Fotolog with "its user base predominantly located in Europe and Latin America".
  Despite this disadvantage for US investors, "Fotolog ranks 20th on the Alexa list of the world´s most-trafficked websites".

• The acquisition price is also much higher as in the case of Flickr ($35 million), but much lower than in the case of Photobucket ($250 million).

• The purchaser Hi-Media Group, being Europe’s third-ranked interactive advertising agency, immediately has apparently elaborated plans to monetize Photobucket´s content through it´s network of ecommerce and advertising properties: "CEO John Borthwick explained to us that Hi-Media management believes that it can better monetize the traffic on Fotolog, and it also add a publishing-element to their over all business".

Roughly a month ago Fotolog and Google announced a long-term search technology and services agreement which was estimated to be worth $75 million.

All details in the press release.