Clarification: Some clarification on the NBC-in-the-process-of-buying-Tribe.net deal I mentioned yesterday, after speaking to some more sources: the deal is in letter of intent stage, which means that like all LOIs in such cases, the due diligence is still on. Also, it is a small deal if it happens: less than $5 million, says my sources. Dealbook on NYT also echoes this quoting their own sources.
The original story: So the rumors which Valleywag first reported on are true...NBC is buying the veteran social networking and online classifieds service Tribe.net, I have confirmed from my sources, though the deal is not supposed to be announced for some time to come. Susan Mernit has also confirmed it from her sources. This is the second online acquisition NBC has done after buying iVillage earlier this year for about $600 million.
Earlier this year Tribe.net raised another $3 million in third round funding..its backers include Mayfield, Knight Ridder and The Washington Post Co. The sale amount is not very substantial, and I don’t know the exact amount, but it is probably less than or around $50 million (What I mean is it is between $0-50 million, not above it).
Tribe as a site never really took off beyond early adopters, and especially after founder Mark Pincus left (he’s still the chairman)...NBC is buying the site mainly for its technology platform, to plug into the rather pathetic community platform that iVillage has for now. NBC and iVillage have publicly said they want to develop more social networking features and services within their online umbrella, and Tribe.net’s platform might be one way of doing that.
Updated: Peter Krasilovsky: Ultimately, neither newspaper company (KR or WaPo) ever managed to launch a local version of Tribe. The Post never really tried, and Knight Ridder, after an initial effort to integrate Tribe with classified systems in Philadelphia, simply gave up.
Related:
-- Tribe.net Bags Another $3 Million
-- Can the Tribe Make It Work?
-- Publishers Bet on Friendster-Like Service