Specific Media has purchased MySpace, the company announced Wednesday afternoon. Terms of the deal were not been disclosed, but according to AllThingsD's Kara Swisher, the digital media company will pay $35 million for the once dominant social network—much less than News Corp.'s $100 million asking price and just a fraction of the $580 million it paid for MySpace in 2005.
The deal requires MySpace to take various cost-cutting measures, including shedding about half of its staff of 400.
"There are many synergies between our companies as we are both focused on enhancing digital media experiences by fuelling connections with relevance and interest," Specific Media CEO Tim Vanderhook said in a press release. "We look forward to combining our platforms to drive the next generation of digital innovation."
Beyond that, Specific Media's plans for MySpace were not revealed, but there are reports that it will focus on music. Swisher said top-level MySpace employees like CEO Mike Jones will likely stay on for an interim period.
The announcement concludes sales proceedings that News Corp. began more than six months ago. The media company made several attempts to breathe life into MySpace, overhauling it last fall as an entertainment and music hub, debuting a mashup with Facebook, and laying off nearly half the site's staff in January. But it seems those moves were too little too late, and in February, Jones admitted that the time had come to sell.
Several names were thrown around as potential MySpace buyers, including an investment group that included MySpace co-founders Tom Anderson and Chris DeWolfe and another group with Activision CEO Bobby Kotick. But on Tuesday, ATD said a smaller player would snap up MySpace for a dramatically reduced price.
Reps from News Corp. did not respond to requests for more details.
