AOL to buy WAYN?

TechCrunch UK is reporting rumours of talks being held over a $200 million deal from AOL to buy social networking site WAYN.

WAYN has reacted with varying degrees of exasperation to the story (officially and privately), claiming no discussions have taken place, it is not up for sale, and it is forging ahead with its own "exciting" plans.

Key figures close to both companies are also denying any knowledge of a deal to Travolution.

UPDATE: Annike Erskine statement to TechCrunch via its comments section:

Further to the comments referred to in this article we would like to confirm that WAYN has at no point had discussions with AOL and are not currently looking for a strategic sale.

WAYN is unique in that it is focused on the travel vertical which represents by far the largest and most lucrative sector online and we are excited about the new products we are introducing to our members and the prospect of developing into the mobile space with location based data and services being one of our core strengths.

We benefit from a broad demographic with over 50% of our UK users over the age of 35. We are also one of the only social networks which is 18+ to improve the safety for our users.

Our present focus is to create long term value and build a truly successful business. The WAYN vision is to become the world’s largest and most successful travel and lifestyle community portal and our management team is solely focused on achieving that goal.

More updates as we get them...

Kevin May, editor, Travolution

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