Streaming behemoth Twitch has quietly bought social networking site Bebo.

As confirmed by Techcrunch, the acquisition is in aid of developing Twitch's esports sector, alongside Twitch Rivals - the platform's series of competitive events.

A spokesperson from Twitch confirmed the $25m deal, as well as the inclusion of Bebo's IP and around 10 employees. No further comment was made.

Bebo briefing

Bebo was founded and launched in 2005 by Michael and Xochi Birch, and quickly became the most popular social network in the UK for a time, dethroning MySpace. In 2008, the site was sold to AOL for $850 million. 

Users on the site began to decline rapidly due to the rise of Facebook, which saw Bebo passed over to Criterion Capital for $25 million in 2010, before being bought back by its creator in 2013 for $1m million.

In 2014, Michael Birch unveiled a redesigned Bebo alongside Bebo Blab - a messenger app. After just two years, the app was shut down. 

Bebo's desktop destination is also currently offline, and its accounts on the other platforms have been wiped clean.

This isn't Bebo's first foray with Twitch either - in 2018 the company launched a multi-feature streaming software, similar to XSplit. However, that was also shut down by October last year.