Yahoo! pursuing social network site Bebo?

The British newspaper, The Telegraph, reported rumors over the weekend that Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) may be taking another run at purchasing the social networking site Bebo, for as much as $1 billion. Bebo, launched in 2005, has become the MySpace of the U.K., with a reported 25 million members, mostly young people.

News Corp (NYSE: NWS) bought the 500 pound gorilla of social networking, MySpace, and its 100 million members for a paltry $580 million in 2005. That's $5.80 per member, compared to $40 per member in the conjectured Yahoo! deal. Ouch.

Bebo has been the subject of speculation for the past year, and is rumored to have fended off offers from BT Group plc (NYSE: BT) and Viacom (NYSE: VIA). The site can afford to wait, as it has access to capital, via backing from Benchmark Capital.

Last year, Yahoo! offered $1 billion for another popular site, Facebook, but was rejected. The Telegraph reported that a Bebo co-founder would prefer to take the site public. I think, though, that by taking the time to prepare an IPO, Bebo runs the risk of missing out on the gold rush currently taking place. I hesitate to use the word bubble, but with billion-dollar deals a daily occurrence, and the fickleness of the consumer in this market, the time may never be better for the founders to cash in.

Yahoo, on the other hand, has been all too quiet while its competitors glom onto properties, and I expect it to pull the trigger on a newsworthy acquisition soon.