ITV Buys Friends Reunited for $304mn

MIDDLE EAST TIMES — Dec 7 — ITV, Britain's biggest commercial TV network, on Tuesday snapped up Friends Reunited for 175 million pounds Sterling (€258 million, $304 million).  The purchase of Friends Reunited, which allows users to locate old school friends, will make ITV.com the eighth largest Website in Britain in terms of people logging on. The site has expanded rapidly and now has 15 million members – some 50% of the adult population with access to the Internet – after moving into areas such as Genes Reunited, a site that allows people to trace their family tree. Other Websites include Friends Reunited Dating, Friends Reunited Jobs and social networking site Friends Reunited Connections. 1 million paying subscribers, 12.4 million pounds this year, earnings before interest and tax of 6.6 million pounds.  Next year, sales are predicted to rises to 18.7 million pounds.

The full article was originally published at Middle East Times, but is no longer available.

Mark Brooks: I'm British, I used Friends Reunited to get in contact with my school friends in UK. It's a very simple site that is very well populated…and effective.  Membership is a pittance at just a few 'quid' a year.