Entrepreneurs Jake Winebaum and Sky Dayton were widely mocked for lavishing $7.5 million on a single Internet domain name — business.com — back in 1999. It was the single highest price paid for a domain name at the time.
New York — Business.com, the B2B search engine and directory, is up for sale and according to the Wall Street Journal; the web destination hopes to attract valuation between $300 and $400 million via an auction managed by Credit Suisse.
Closely held Business.com is expected to attract a host of interest from the likes of media companies such as Dow Jones & Co. and New York Times Co., according to people familiar with the matter said.
Business.com uses a multi-tiered revenue generation method (which is probably the highest profile arbitrage site on the planet) with an even mix of paid business directory listings (sold in-house), paid search advertising (provided by Google), and contextual ads (externally driven).
The company made Ebitda of 15 million US dollars in 2007 and its online traffic increased 50 pct year on year in the first quarter.
Business.com does the kind of things publishers are trying to do more of: Drive readers to spend money with merchants who will pay a bounty for the traffic.
Acquisition of Business.com, is the dream of many publishers, since it focuses on the business world and, businesses understand the importance of paying for search traffic and authority links now more than ever before.
Dow Jones and New York Times officials declined to comment. A representative for Business.com also declined comment.
Their interest shows how, well into the Internet age, media companies are still eager for properties that can deliver online revenue and growth.
Santa Monica, California-based Business.com runs a search engine, directory, and pay-per-click advertising network with more than 6 million monthly unique visitors, according to the site.
The people familiar with the matter say that the final price for Business.com is hard to predict. But at $350 million, a deal would value the company at some 24 times cash flow. Credit Suisse is running the auction.
Mr. Dayton remains a director. Mr. Winebaum is Business.com’s chief executive.