MySpace, Photobucket acquisition rumors confirmed

The latest in a series of industry acquisitions has been confirmed – MySpace is acquiring Photobucket. Rupert Murdoch may be paying the $300 million that Photobucket reportedly wanted as the deal is reported to be for $250 million in cash, with an earn-out for up to $50 million more. Techmeme is reporting that “an overzealous Photobucket employee is the source of this rumor” but that they had confirmed it with “more senior people”.

According to Hitwise, Photobucket has around 40 million users of which around 300,000 link back to Photobucket from various sites, including MySpace. The photo- and video-sharing site, which has 40 percent share of the U.S. online photo market at present, generated $6.3 million in revenue in 2006, and aims to bring in $25 million or more this year.

The acquisition comes just weeks after MySpace blocked Photobucket videos in a dispute over technical issues. That dispute was quickly resolved and subsequent talks appear to have led to the acquisition.

Tags: acquisition, MySpace, Photobucket