MySpace Sold For $35 Million To Specific Media

It's official. According to an exclusive through AllThingsDigital, the once popular but now ailing social network, MySpace, has been sold. Yesterday, news came that News Corp. was looking to close a deal before the end of this week with low bids coming in between $20 to $30 million. It seems they managed to up the final sale price to $35 million with Specific Media being the "lucky" winner.

Sources familiar with the situation say that the deal is to be completed today, although nothing has been officially signed yet. The sale will let News Corp. hold onto a very small stake in MySpace of less than 5 percent. The sales price of $35 million certainly falls short of the $100 million that News Corp was hoping for and is pitiful compared to the original almost $600 million paid for MySpace back in 2005.

Specific Media is a lesser known advertising network and it intends to keep MySpace a social platform focused on music and entertainment. Other bids included those from original co-founders Chris DeWolfe and Tom Anderson, as well as Activision CEO Bobby Kotick. But as of this week, the deal came down to either Specific Media or Golden Gate Capital. And if all goes smoothly today, News Corp. will finally get to offload the property and start afresh as its new fiscal year starts this Thursday.

[via AllThingsDigital]