America Online Inc is close to cementing a deal to acquire Israeli start-up Mirabilis Ltd, which has developed an internet chat system, according to the Wall Street Journal’s online edition. AOL is reportedly ready to hand over $300m in cash and stock within the next week or two for Tel-Aviv-based Mirabilis, whose ICQ software alerts users when friends are online at the same time as them and allows for the exchange of instant text messages. Mirabilis’ system boasts over 11 million subscribers, rivaling AOL’s own numbers. AOL’s Buddy Lists and Instant Messenger technologies are similar to what Mirabilis offers, but ICQ has already been proven to work on the internet-at-large, as opposed to within AOL’s own network. ICQ also has certain features which AOL’s offerings lack, such as the ability to exchange files and surf the internet in tandem with friends. While Mirabilis’ web site sees a sizeable amount of traffic, it doesn’t accept advertising and doesn’t charge its users and thus has very little revenue to speak of. AOL would not comment.
