SpeakEasy, a tiny provider of voice and data services, is about to be swallowed up by BestBuy. SpeakEasy is the Seattle-based ISP that won the hearts and minds of net geeks several years ago by allowing them to freely share their Internet connections, while other, bigger ISPs spent their time trying to quash "rogue" Wi-Fi hotspots, which they regarded as a form of theft. The purchase, by a bix-box electronics retailer, is a bit like Yahoo buying out Flickr or Google swallowing up Writely – it's just a bummer, man, for people who like to wave the flag of net independence.

More puzzling is the acquisition price – $97 million in cash, or just 1.2 times the company's 2006 revenue of $80 million. Now I'm not in the M&A business, and this question might just reveal my naivete, but isn't that awfully cheap for a successful niche ISP with 40,000 customers?

My guess is that Speakeasy's investors, which include 3i, Cornerstone Ventures, Granite Ventures, BB Capital, the Intel Communications Fund, Matthew G. Norton, and Ares Management, are bailing out.

We'll have more as we dig it up. Stay tuned.