German Social Network Wer-kennt-wen.de Bought By RTL

Wer-kennt-wen.de, one of Germany’s largest social networks, has been acquired by The RTL Group, one of Europe’s largest media conglomerates. RTL reportedly bought the remaining 51 percent of the company (RTL already owned 49 percent of the company).

WKW currently has 5.5 million members. WKW’s founders, Fabian Jager and Patrick Ohler, will be staying at the social network.

The story broke on Netzwertig.com. Here’s the translated version.

WKW has been likened to a “German MySpace”, though it doesn’t seem to have blatantly ripped off the social networking giant, which is more than some of its competitors can say. German startups have been notorious for copying their American predecessors, the most notable of which is StudiVZ, which Facebook has filed suit against for an infringement of Facebook’s “look, feel, features and services”. As of November 2008, StudiVZ had 12 million users.