Reed Smith, Herbies in as AOL buys $850m Bebo

The City arm of Reed Smith Richards Butler has picked up a profile-raising mandate on the $850m (£420.6m) acquisition of social networking website Bebo by AOL.

The firm's London arm advised longstanding client Bebo on UK aspects of the deal, with senior associate Gregor Pryor leading a team that also included associates Krista James and Daniel Barnett.

Internet giant AOL looked to regular adviser Herbert Smith for UK advice, with corporate partner Gavin Davies and international communications practice head Nick Elverston leading.

Bebo was advised in the US by Weil Gotshal & Manges, for whom corporate partners Kyle Krpata and Dick Millard took the main roles, while Simpson Thatcher & Bartlett advised AOL. Paolo Alto-based corporate partner Peter Malloy led the team for Simpson Thacher.

Commenting on the mandate, Pryor said: "This is a really exciting deal. These are big media conglomerates recognising that traditional online business is not engaging enough."

The acquisition, which is expected to complete next month, gives AOL access to the 40 million punters that currently use Bebo. The sale comes after Microsoft last year paid $240m (£119.2m) for a 1.6% stake in rival networking site Facebook.

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