AOL has agreed to acquire social networking site Bebo for around $850 million in cash.

AOL announced Thursday that it plans to buy the company to round out its portfolio and step into social networking Bebo could complement AOL’s AIM and ICQ personal communications networking and increase AOL’s user base to 80 million.

“This is a tremendous acquisition and one I think is game-changing for AOL,” said Randy Falco, AOL chairman and CEO, during a conference call.

Falco said that AOL is eager to acquire Bebo’s growing user base of 40 million people around the globe. The company’s focus on media also appealed to AOL, which spent about six months negotiating the acquisition.

“Bebo is the perfect complement to AOL’s personal communications network and puts us in a leading position in social media,” Falco said.

Bebo relies on users to create, discover, and share content. It employs about 100 people in San Francisco, Austin, Texas, and the United Kingdom. Its focus is on entertainment and self-expression. The company boasts heavy user engagement with an average of 78 page views and 33 minutes spent on the site by each user each day. The company also works with major media outlets on content distribution.

Bebo’s current President, Joanna Shields, will continue running Bebo, while reporting to Ron Grant, president and COO of AOL.

“Bebo’s dynamic management team recognizes that the Internet is less about destination and more about connecting people, culture, and lifestyles,” Grant said. “This acquisition supports our key objectives — accelerating the growth, engagement, and monetization of one of the world’s most engaged online communities.”

AOL said it has launched 17 international Web sites over the last year and it plans to expand into 30 countries by the end of 2008. Bebo also announced plans to launch in five new countries this year.

Last week, AOL launched Open AIM 2.0, which gives developers increased access to the AIM network and allows integration of AIM into other sites and applications. Also last week, Apple announced an AIM application for the iPhone.

“AOL understands the shifting dynamics of the Web and has clearly demonstrated its commitment to leveraging the ever-increasing power of social networks,” Shields said. “With one and the same vision in this area, it was a natural progression for Bebo to join AOL, and we look forward to working together to continue to expand the online social experience globally.”

Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) is reportedly considering whether to spin off AOL, which is trying to compete against Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) and Google (NSDQ: GOOG).

Amy Winehouse has confirmed she is to play T In The Park 2008, after cancelling her appearance at last year’s festival.

The singer will perform on the Main Stage on July 13 prior to sets by Kings of Leon and REM.

Festival organizer Geoff Ellis said: “It’s always been the intention to have Amy come to play T In The Park after what happened last year.”

Amy Winehouse’s father, Mitch, is taking the blame (or is it the credit?) for his daughter’s less-than-happy music, saying the troubled singer channeled her rage about his marriage-ending affair into her songs.

But he stopped short of taking responsibility for Winehouse’s drug problems: “It is easy for me to say it is my fault, and that had I been a better parent this would not have happened. But who knows whether it would or not?”

You’re right, Mitch. It’s hard to know whether a confidence-shattering affair that splits your family apart during your daughter’s most impressionable years could possibly have influenced her to seek solace in that all-understanding needle.

Though, it’s nice of you to share the family’s dirty laundry with the world.

In case you have a smidgen of a thought that you might be to blame, you can always take solace in the fact that, in addition to a drug problem, you might also be responsible for her lovely eyebrow arch.

No first-day jitters for Britney Spears. Arriving promptly at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday on the L.A. lot of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother with her assistant Brett in tow, Spears quickly got to work impressing her costars.

“It pains me to report that on the first day of the shoot, Britney knew her lines better than I knew mine,”  “She’s been great to work with.”

n the episode, which will air March 24, Spears plays a receptionist at a dermatologist’s office, who falls for one of the show’s main characters, Ted, played by Radnor. She is expected back on set tomorrow for a second day of shooting.

Spears first met the cast on Monday during a table read. A set source told PEOPLE, “She was a bit nervous, but didn’t let it get to her… She really seemed to enjoy herself and feel comfortable.”

Rihanna is thrilled – and grateful – that the leukemia-stricken New York City mother of two she came forward to help has found a bone marrow donor.

“There are no words to express how happy I am for Lisa [Gershowitz-Flynn] and her family,” Rihanna said . “I am so thankful she found a donor and I feel honored to be a part of such an amazing miracle.”

Last month the Grammy-winning singer put out a plea for help, and Flynn, 41, who learned she has an aggressive form of cancer called Acute Myelogenous Leukemia the day after Thanksgiving, quickly found a donor.

“This blessing has continued to keep me aware of how precious life really is,” says Rihanna. “I will be praying for Lisa and her family as they move into a hopeful future.”