Category: All Acquisitions

Mixi, Japan’s Social-networking Pioneer, Turns Matchmaker

Posted on October 16, 2013

Mixi logo noveJAPAN TIMES – Oct 15 – Mixi was Japan's biggest social network but has been replaced by Gree, Mobage, Twitter, Facebook and most recently Line. Mixi is venturing into the marriage/dating business and will purchase the marriage-support business division from Line in Dec, and Confianza, a dating events company. In Japan online dating is not respected as a business. Japan’s low marriage and birth rate are at crisis levels.

by Akky Akimoto
See full article at Japan Times

This post also appears on SocialNetworkingWatch.

Meetic Acquires e-kontakt In Sweden, Norway And Denmark

Posted on October 3, 2013

E-kontakt logoBUSINESS WIRE – Oct 2 – Meetic is going to acquire the assets of e-Kontakt, one of the leading Nordic dating site owned by Intodate International AB. The site launched in 2005. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The full article was originally published at WSJ, but is no longer available.

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This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.

Match.com Increases Its Stake In Meetic From 80.8% To 87.5%

Posted on September 26, 2013

Meetic logo newPR NEWSWIRE – Sep 25 – Match.com has acquired all remaining shares held by Marc Simoncini, Meetic's founder, which represent 6.7% of the capital. The average price was €29.5M (€18.75). Match now owns 87.5% of the capital and 88.6% of the voting rights of Meetic. Mr. Simoncini has resigned from Meetic's board of directors. Match intends to launch a voluntary simplified public tender offer for all of the outstanding shares of Meetic at a price of €18.75 per share.

See full article at PR Newswire

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This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.

PlentyOfFish Acquires FastLife

Posted on September 19, 2013

Fastlife powered by pofCNW – Sep 18 – POF is acquiring FastLife, the world's largest speed dating and singles event company. "The direction of online dating is undeniably headed towards a merging of the online and offline worlds," said Markus Frind, founder and CEO of POF. FastLife holds ~2,400 events a year. These events have generated annual revenue of ~$2.5M. POF and FastLife will be rolling out singles events in US over the next year. FastLife was created by a husband and wife team, Justin and Annabelle Parfitt. Annabelle will continue as CEO of FastLife, which is branded as Fast Impressions in Australia. POF wants to invest ~$30M in the next 12 months."

The full article was originally published at Yahoo Finance, but is no longer available.

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This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.

Avalanche Acquires Golfmates.com

Posted on July 23, 2013

Golfmates logoPRESS RELEASE – July 23 – Avalanche, the company behind Date.com and Matchmaker.com, among others, has acquired Golfmates.com, an online dating site for golf enthusiasts. Golfmates.com is the first sports themed dating site to join Avalanche’s roster of 18 niche and general dating sites. The term of the deal were not disclosed.

The full article was originally published at GolfMates website, but is no longer available.

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This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.

Cupid Sells Casual Dating Sites For £43 Million

Posted on July 16, 2013

Cupidplc logo new dec 12INDEPENDENT – July 15 – Cupid sold its BeNaughty.com, Flirt.com and other casual dating sites to Grendall Investment for £43.1M (€50M). The company would retain Cupid.com, LoveAgain.com and UniformDating.com. It also signed a software licensing agreement with Grendall that would generate £2M of revenue over four years. Grendall Investment is managed by Max Polyakov, co-founder of Cupid, who also holds a 15% stake in the company.

See full article at Independent

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This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.

ReseauContact.com To Be Acquired By Mediagrif

Posted on June 3, 2013

Reseaucontact logo01AMOUR – May 31 – ReseauContact.com, a dating site in Quebec, is going to be acquired by Montreal-based Mediagrif. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. ReseauContact.com has 1.4M registered members.

See full article at 01Amour

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Meetic Buys Pastas Party For Its Singles Events

Posted on May 20, 2013

Meetic logo newREUTERS – May 20 – Meetic has acquired the assets of Pastas Party, the leading French website for singles events. Created in 2007 by Héloïse Dion, Pastas Party has developed a range of singles events across France and runs a community of ~100K singles. In December 2012 Meetic launched a complementary offline event service – Meetic Soirées. Already ~ 300 Soirées have been organised. Héloïse Dion and her team will be responsible for creating Soirées in each European country covered by the Meetic group.

The full article was originally published at Reuters, but is no longer available.

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Gaydar Has Been Sold To The Creator Of Channel 4′s Big Breakfast

Posted on May 17, 2013

Gaydar logo new May 13PINKNEWS – May 17 – British TV producer Charlie Parsons, who created Channel 4’s The Big Breakfast and The Word, has added Gaydar.co.uk to his business portfolio. QSoft Consulting, the former owner of dating site Gaydar.co.uk, announced in May 2012 it was seeking a “significant cash investment” to fund its “ambition for global growth”. Gaydar founder Henry Badenhorst has left the company and the new management team, led by Trevor Martin, will include Charlie Parsons and Mark Speeks who will both join the Gaydar board of directors with immediate effect.

by Scott Roberts
The full article was originally published at Pink News, but is no longer available.

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eDarling Buys Itself Back From eHarmony

Posted on May 8, 2013

Edarling logo newVENTURE VILLAGE – May 8 – A two-year affair between eDarling and eHarmony is over. eHarmony purchased a 30% stake in eDarling with an option to buy the rest if all went well. Now that offer is off the table and eDarling has bought back its shares from eHarmony. Rumours put the cost of the buyback at $30M with talk it will be followed by an eDarling launch in the UK. The company behind eDarling, Affinitas, reported a €9.2M loss for 2011, an improvement on the €13.6M loss it reported for 2010. In May last year, it said it expected slightly positive EBITDA on a boosted €50M turnover for 2012. It’s unclear who led the break-up – but it seems both firms were more than ready for a refresh in strategy.

The full article was originally published at Venture Village, but is no longer available.

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This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.