Report: Viacom Buying NeoPets For $160 Million

We heard a NeoPets, Inc. deal was on the verge a few days ago but not with Viacom as the buyer. The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday night that Viacom will pick up the childrens’ web company for $160 million. Privately held NeoPets claims 25 million-plus members and annual revenue of “eight figures” from advertising (60 percent)and merchandising; the press kit says it’s been profitable since a few months after its 1999 ounding in Neopets plush toys, a movie and videogames are already part of the mix. As I write, Neopets site stats include 258,762,490,000 pages viewed, 98,494,827 “pet” owners and 141,014,862 pets. It’s one of the 10 stickiest sites for kids. (I can attest to this as an aunt, whose computer makes a great NeoPet playstation.)
It should be a good fit for Viacom, which already owns Nickelodeon and other child-young teen brands — and knows how to market them to the nth degree. Led by Chairman and CEO Sumner Redstone, Viacom has been open of late about its drive to become more of a player online. MTV Networks Chairman and CEO Judy McGrath told the Journal: “We follow our audience’s behavior. We are absolutely committed to being players in this digital space.” Neopets will stay with Viacom after CBS spins off.

Neopets Chairman Doug Dohring said the company talked with other potential investors, adding, “I think the best content out there that is being created on the Web is being very closely looked at by media companies.”

The WSJ story doesn’t mention site founder/Neopets creator Adam Powell and co-founder Donna Williams, although it says Dohring and other senior management will stay with the company.

Rafat: I had heard some rumors last week about Yahoo buying Neopets (the logic being it would have integrated it with IM and mobile)…anyway, I do have it from sources that Yahoo was looking at it. Another company Yahoo has had meetings with is Saw-You, the company behind the WeeMee avatars….we’ll see what comes out of that.

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