Yahoo To Buy Tumblr For $1.1bn – Reports

Yahoo’s board has reportedly approved an all-cash deal to acquire blogging site Tumblr for $1.1 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The deal has also been approved by Tumblr’s board, and it is expected to be announced on Monday, sources told WSJ. If confirmed, it will be the largest deal that Yahoo has seen under CEO Marissa Mayer, who took charge in July 2012.

Founded in 2007 by CEO David Karp, micro-blogging site Tumblr allows users to share text, photos, music and videos. In the last six years, the site has seen popularity grow – especially among teenagers – with blog posts increasing from 75,000 to almost 110 million.

Tumblr has reportedly raised $125 million in investor funds so far and made $13 million in revenue last year. It is aiming to hit the $100 million revenue mark in 2013.

Internet giants like Google, Yahoo and Facebook have been rapidly acquiring smaller, high-growth potential sites in recent years in an effort to reach out to a wider audience.

Facebook bought photo-sharing service Instagram for $1 billion last year, while Google shelled out $1.65 billion to acquire video-sharing site YouTube in 2006.

However, news of the possible Yahoo-Tumblr deal has not gone down too well with several young bloggers, who are apprehensive about the future of the micro-blogging site.

Geocities, a popular website acquired by Yahoo in 1999, was forced to shut down 10 years later, while experts also say that photo-sharing site Flickr, bought by Yahoo in 2005, has not been able to achieve its potential.