Six Apart / Live Journal Merger ?

Rumors abound that Six Apart, makers of Movable Type, will be purchasing LiveJournal. If this occurs it will give SixApart a shot at keeping it's head above water. Blogger is still the most widespread blogging platform on the web while many feel MT has the cleanest look and is more sophisticated and professional looking. Dealing with server installations is MT's achille's heel -- Typepad is a stop gap solution. If SixApart pulls this off, it should really help boost both their product portfolio and design R&D. - zzb

Folks have been predicting a big year for mergers and acquisitions in 2005, and we are starting the year with a bang. I have learnt exclusively that Six Apart, the parent company behind hosted blogging service TypePad, and Moveable Type is about to acquire Live Journal, for an undisclosed amount. The deal is a mix of stock and cash, and could be announced sometime later this month, according to those close to the two companies. If the deal goes through, then Six Apart will become one of the largest weblog companies in the world, with nearly 6.5 million users. It also gives the company a very fighting chance against Google's Blogger and Microsoft's MSN Spaces. -- Om Malik On Broadband More...