Technology company Six Apart today announced the sale of one of its more popular blogging operations,
LiveJournal.
The sale was made to SUP, an online media company in Russia. The terms of the deal are undisclosed, however from the sale SUP have set up LiveJournal, Inc. which will be based in San Francisco.
SUP's purchase of LiveJournal follows a prior licence agreement with Six Apart in October 2006, where SUP took over the management and development of the Russian segment of the popular blogging platform.
According to a SUP issued
press release this morning, LiveJournal's
Russian userbase makes up 28% of LiveJournal's 18 million monthly
visitors. LiveJournal's largest marketshare remains steadily within the
United States.
Chris Alden, chief executive officer and chairman of Six Apart said, ?We were very impressed with SUP?s management of the Russian LiveJournal community over the past year and are confident that they will bring resources and energy to develop the product and expand the community.?
SUP have promised bigger and significant investment into LiveJournal in the coming months and years.
Andrew Paulson, chief executive officer of SUP says, "Having gotten to know LiveJournal in Russia over the past year we see enormous potential in developing the business worldwide; it has already shown its durability in America."
The new LiveJournal team have set up a dedicated community area, named
LJ 2008 where members can join in the discussion about the acquisition, as well as feedback regarding the company's goals in the near future and contribute their own.
The LiveJournal community were informed of the acquisition one day before the news was made public.