Bankrupt Sex.com fetches $13 mn

NEW YORK, USA: Sex.com, which is touted as one of the most valuable Internet domain names, is set to be sold for $13 million.

According to media reports citing court documents, Clover Holdings Limited, based on the Caribbean island of St. Vincent, made the top offer for the hot Internet domain name, after the present owner, Escom LLC, has been forced to sell the company due to bankruptcy.

Escom purchased the domain from its previous owner in 2006, The Register reported. The price then was variously reported as being between $12 million and $14 million, making it one of the most expensive domains of all time. According to bankruptcy court documents, Clover Holdings was chosen from among 12 bidders after making the "highest and best offer", it added.

Sex.com was first registered by Gary Kremen, the owner of the dating site match.com, in 1994. He later had the name 'hijacked' by a conman called Stephen Cohen and waged a long legal battle to retain control of the name. Cohen ended up being jailed and fined more than $65 million for stealing the domain name.

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Attorneys representing Escom are asking a California bankruptcy court to approve Clover as the winning bidder and clear the way for the Sex.com deal to be consummated and domain-name trading platform Sedo to get its commissions, said an AFP report.

“The proposed sale to buyer was the product of arms-length, good faith negotiations in which the debtor bargained for maximum possible purchase price for the assets,” Escom attorney Jeffrey Dulberg wrote in a court filing.

The deal is subject to bankruptcy court approval.