Terra Lycos sells Lycos to Daum for $105 million

Terra Lycos has sold its U.S. subsidiary, Lycos, to the South Korean Internet portal company Daum Communications in a deal valued at $105 million, Terra Lycos announced Monday.

The deal, which is subject to regulatory approval in the U.S., will not include Terra Networks USA, or Terra’s stake in Lycos Europe, as those Lycos assets will be transferred to Terra Lycos prior to the completion of the deal, the Barcelona company said.

Terra originally purchased Lycos, based in Waltham, Mass., in May 2000 in a stock deal worth $12.5 billion. According to Terra Lycos, the Lycos assets it is selling to Daum Communications represented about 16% of its total earnings in 2003.

Terra Lycos said the sale is part of its plan to refocus its efforts on geographical areas in which it has significant operations and in the Spanish and Portuguese speaking market. For its part, Daum Communications has been expanding its operations internationally, and last month launched a joint venture in Japan with PoweredCom.