Criterion_Capital_Partners

Criterion Capital Partners

Criterion Capital Partners

Private equity firm

Criterion Capital Partners LLC, also known as simply Criterion, was a private equity fund based in Los Angeles, California.[2] It was best known for being the owner of Bebo, from 2010 to 2013.

Quick Facts Company type, Industry ...

History

Christopher Lord co-founded the company in 2002.[3][4] Criterion acquired social networking service Bebo in 2010. Bebo was previously owned by AOL, who originally purchased the service for $850 million in 2008.[5] The acquisition had failed as Bebo's business was declining. AOL sold the company for less than $10 million to Criterion.[6][7] Following the acquisition, Bebo's business did not improve. In April 2012, the minority shareholders filed a $5 million suit against Criterion for “destroying the site". Then in May, TechCrunch reported that Bebo filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy.[8][9]

In 2018, the Wall Street Journal reported that the company was shutting down.[10]

References

  1. [1]
    "Criterion Capital Management, LLC: Private Company Information - Bloomberg". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  2. [2]
    "Criterion Capital Partners LLC - Company Profile and News". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  3. [3]
    Cheng, Evelyn (2017-10-04). "Criterion Capital founder likes Mercado Libre but is short iRobot". CNBC. Retrieved 2018-04-12.
  4. [4]
    "Christopher Hawkins Lord: Executive Profile & Biography - Bloomberg". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2018-04-12.
  5. [5]
    "The incredible life of Mike Birch, the Brit who sold Bebo for $850 million before buying it back for $1 million". Business Insider. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  6. [6]
    Wauters, Robin. "Confirmed: Criterion Capital Partners Acquires Bebo From AOL". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  7. [7]
    Helft, Miguel (2010-06-17). "AOL Sells Bebo Site to Criterion Capital Partners". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  8. [8]
    Grant, Rebecca. "Bebo bargain: After selling to AOL for $850M in 2008, founders buy it back for ... $1M | VentureBeat". venturebeat.com. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  9. [9]
    Lunden, Ingrid (May 10, 2013). "Social Network Bebo Has Filed A Voluntary Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Petition". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  10. [10]
    Copeland, Rachael Levy and Rob. "Hedge Fund Criterion Capital to Shut Down After 16 Years". WSJ. Retrieved 2023-01-20.


Stub icon 1 Stub icon 2

This article about an online company of the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Criterion_Capital_Partners, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.