EarthLink to Buy PeoplePC for $10 Million

EarthLink Inc., the third-largest U.S. Internet service provider, agreed to buy PeoplePC Inc., a provider of discount Internet connections, to add subscribers.

EarthLink agreed to pay 1.71 cents for each PeoplePC share, which would be about $10 million. That’s less than PeoplePC’s closing price Friday of 10 cents. EarthLink also would assume about $35 million in liabilities.

Shares of Atlanta-based EarthLink fell 15 cents to $6.32, and San Francisco-based PeoplePC fell 5 cents to 5 cents, both on Nasdaq.