Lycos Europe announced on Wednesday plans to shutter its portal and Web-hosting business and find a buyer for three other areas of its business. The company, which last month announced a 20 percent drop in revenue to EUR 46.9m and a net loss of EUR 17.1m, said the decision was made after reviewing its strategic options for several months. It also plans to seek a buyer for other parts of its operation: its domains, Danish portal, and shopping activities. Investors will vote on the management proposal at the company's December 12 shareholders meeting. Should the proposal receive approval, Lycos Europe will distribute EUR 50m to shareholders by year's end. The closure of Lycos Europe's portal, which includes search, online communities, and content channels, comes as it faces increased competition from Yahoo and Google and a decline in user traffic.
http://www.ejc.net/media_news/lycos_europe_to_close_portal_end_web_hosting/