Domainer Communicate.com Acquires Auctomatic For $5 Million; Changes Name To Live Current Media
This story was written by Joseph Weisenthal.
Communicate.com, an OTCBB-traded media company built around domain names, has acquired Auctomatic, a Y Combinator-backed startup targeting eBay (NSDQ: EBAY) sellers, for $5 million. According to News.com , the sale price was split between $2 million in cash and $3 million in stock. The Vancouver-based company is now doing business as Live Current Media, and it plans to eventually change its name to that pending shareholder approval. Auctomatic offers an online inventory management system, letting eBay sellers manage their auctions from a specialized site. Communicate.com has been accumulating domain names for over a decade, and is now trying to ride the wave of bigger successes, like Demand Media, which have actively built media businesses out of domain names. The Auctomatic team will go to Communicate's Vancouver offices, although it wasn't made clear how the businesses would meld. Release.
By Joseph Weisenthal