Frankly, Predictions are tough to make, especially about the future*. I predict that Move.com will STILL acquire ActiveRain!
To bring some of you up to speed, ActiveRain was in talks with Move.com for an acquisition. At the last second Move.com bailed. ActiveRain is now suing for $33,000,000. (ActiveRain Lawsuit details)
I know this might sound nuts, but let's look back in time. Remember the Photobucket and Myspace squabble? Myspace cut off Photobucket's feed on April 10 2007. Then on May 7th miraculously Myspace acquired Photobucket for $250M
This is how I envision the Myspace and Photobucket (PB) the negotiations:
Myspace >PB: "We want to acquire you for $100M"
PB> MYspace: "We want YouTube's $1B. Go to hell, when you come back we will talk"
MySpace > PB: "Oh Yeah, look how powerful you are now, we just cut you off"
PB> Public: "Doesn't Myspace suck, everyone go complain to them"
PB> Myspace: "How about $250M"
Myspace> PB: "Deal! Hell was great and I just saved $750M"
Here is how the Move.com and ActiveRain dialogue went down in my opinion:
Move.com >AR: "We want you for $10M"
AR>Move.com: "Nah, not for sale, unless we get $50M"
Move.com>AR: "Ok, $30M it is.. but just wait a sec"
Move.com> Board: "I know $30m is a ton, but they are worth it. We think we found a way to get the price down"
Move.com>AR: "Just Kidding, LOL. Game over."
AR>Public: "We are suing, please make them look bad"
Move.com>Board: "Here is the plan. We back out, they sue, we settle. But we settle WITH the company, not without. Probably around $20-25M"
Total savings Upto $13M minus legal fees.
You heard it here first. ActiveRain and Move.com make a deal and proceed with acquisition! (prediction)
Come on, Realtor.com NEEDS ActiveRain. You can't just restart a network like this. What, 50,000 members are going to have a 3rd blog to relist their articles? Give me a break.
Also a comment about NAR. I know you merely license Realtor.com to Move.com, but their actions reflect on all REALTORS and on NAR. I hope you are applying pressure to the situation. We need this. It isn't just gibber jabber, it is content.
If you like this post, give it a good rating and lets get it featured on ActiveRain.
Written by Frank Borges LL0SA - Broker FranklyRealty.com
p.s. Please report typos.
* Yogi Bera reference.