San Francisco, Jan. 24 (Reuters): Sex.com, long coveted as potentially one of the most lucrative sites on the Web because of its catchy name, has been sold for about $12 million in cash and stock, a source familiar with the deal said yesterday.

A group of anonymous buyers, Boston-based Escom LLC, said in a statement it had acquired the Web address Sex.com from Gary Kremen, chief executive of Grant Media LLC and the founder of Match.com. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Sex.com is seen as one of the most recognisable and, therefore, financially most promising Web domain names but does not currently have much content.