Korea's top portal - Daum Communications - is to buy Lycos Inc. for $105m (£57m) as part of a move to break into the US Internet market.

Said Daum in a statement by way of The Korea Times: "Through the acquisition, we plan to establish our presence in the US, one of the fastest growing Internet markets in the world, and set the foundation on becoming a leading global Internet company."

Neither Terra Networks USA nor Terra's stake in Lycos Europe are affected by the sale of Lycos Inc..

Lycos Inc. contributed around 16 per cent of the income generated by the Terra group last year. As a result, Terra warned that the sale would lead to a fall in earnings for the current financial year.

For the six months to the end of June, Daum Communications reported record first half 2004 revenues of $78m (£42) up 47.2 per cent on the same period last year while operating income rose 30 per cent to $19.8m (£10m). ®

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