Lycos Europe, which last month put itself up for sale after failing to offer a compelling website for several years, is hoping a US company will make an offer. In a come-and-get-me pitch, CEO Christopher Mohn told FT.com the portal “could have made a much more aggressive play” had it been backed by US shareholders: “A typical US shareholder would look much more aggressively at the upside. European funding is much more risk-averse. In the US you have the feeling that when people believe in an idea and a strategy they don’t mind so much about the numbers.”

In other words - “take a risk, buy us!”. “If you take Lycos Europe as a starting point, in comparison to what other entry strategies would cost you, it’s a very cheap way.” Indeed, Mohn acknowledges it’s unlikely his portal would get bought by an indigenous European company. But the company swung to a EUR 5.9 million loss in April from a profit last year.

Lycos was a once-mighty search site and eventually, portal, that played a big part in the popularisation of the web but was soon overtaken by rivals like Google (NSDQ: GOOG) and Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO), and languished without attractive product offerings. It’s now a mere bit player? What chance a reunification with Lycos Inc US, from which it was spun off? That would at least annul the confusing branding split - but would actually only create a larger bit player.

• Lycos Europe Puts Itself Up For Sale; Revenues Continue Decreasing
• Earnings: Lycos Problems Persist; Can Disposals Set Things Straight?