AOL has sold Bebo to a private investment firm.

Internet company, AOL, has sold social networking website, Bebo, after purchasing it just two years ago for $850 million (£417m).

Private investment company, Criterion Capital Partners, announced today (17th June) that it bought the website business, but did not state its selling price.

Analysts expect the price to be significantly less than the millions AOL paid for it in 2008.

A once-popular social networking site, Bebo, has struggled to compete with the behemoth Facebook, and its subsequent domination of the internet networking market.

AOL had announced earlier this year that it intended to sell or shut down Bebo as it was unable to provide the investment needed to prevent the social networking site’s decline as a business.