Category: All Acquisitions

FriendFinder Networks Sheds JigoCity Unit

Posted on August 7, 2012

Ffn logoXBIZ – Aug 7 – FriendFinder Networks is dumping its JigoCity division and selling it back to its original owner for $1. FriendFinder last September acquired BDM Global Ventures, parent of JigoCity, in a stock deal that was worth about $4.3M when FriendFinder's stock price was more than double what it is today – 90c as traded on the Nasdaq today. JigoCity, which focuses on "daily deals," operates in such foreign markets as Australia, Brazil, China, Singapore and Taiwan. Recently, it was pulling out of the Hong Kong market. FriendFinder said it would be able to cancel 4.1M of 6.4M warrants with strike prices ranging from $7 to $18 a share issued during the acquisition.

by Rhett Pardon
See full article at XBiz

Mark Brooks: I've seen multiple idating sites start daily deals sites and bail on them now. We just bailed on running Daily Deals Observer. The industry seems mired, and not that interesting really.

See all posts on FriendFinder

This post also appears on SocialNetworkingWatch.

Alma Media Buys Finland’s Largest Dating Site

Posted on August 2, 2012

Ekontakti.fi logoMARKET WATCH – Aug 2 – Alma Media has bought e-kontakti.fi, Finland's largest dating site from the Swedish company Intodate International AB. The value of the deal was not disclosed. E-kontakti.fi has ~35K active members and 11K paying members. Last year, the revenue of e-kontakti.fi was $1.9M Eur.

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

This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.

Cupid Ties The Knot With French Peer

Posted on July 24, 2012

Cupidplc logoTHE SCOTSMAN – July 24 – Cupid has bought French peer Assistance Genie Logiciel (AGL) from private equity fund Financiere PES for €3.7M (£2.9M). AGL’s 25 staff in Paris run three websites, two of which – Amour.com and SeRencontrer.com – follow traditional models, while the third, Ulla.com, is “somewhat racier”, analysts said. Cupid does not disclose revenue by country but it is estimated that the revenue run-rate in France prior to today’s acquisition was ~€6M.”

by Peter Ranscombe
See full article at The Scotsman

See all posts on Cupid

This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.

UK Global Personals Acquires Smooch.com

Posted on May 10, 2012

Smooch logo new Oct 11WLD – May 10 – Global Personals acquires Smooch, the 7th largest dating site in UK (Experian Hitwise), alongside its parent company WooWise. The acquisition also includes Mancentral.com, which will help Global Personals grow its gay dating division. Martin Bysh and Marcus Hamilton will remain as advisors to the business. The financial terms of the purchase were not disclosed.

See all posts on Smooch
See all posts on WooWise

This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.

eLove Matchmaking Expands To Canada

Posted on May 8, 2012

Elove logo new May 12SB WIRE – May 7 – eLove Matchmaking is opening offices in Toronto, Edmonton and Calgary and has acquired Real Connections, with its offices in Calgary and Edmonton. Professional matchmakers do the recruiting, marketing and interviewing for their members to ensure their privacy and safety. eLove conducts a mandatory background check for the safety of each single they match.

See all posts on eLove

AshleyMadison Acquires Ohhtel.com

Posted on April 18, 2012

Ohhtel logoOPW – Apr 18 – The infidelity service AshleyMadison.com has finalized a deal to acquire Ohhtel.com, the South American infidelity dating site. The financial terms of this acquisition were not disclosed. As part of this transition, Ohhtel.com is shutting down its online dating service and instead changing its product offering to Live Sex shows and Erotic video chat.

See all posts on AshleyMadison

This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.

Dating Factory Acquires World Dating Partners

Posted on April 13, 2012

Worlddatingpartners datingfactory logaPR WEB – Apr 13 – Caerus AG, the owner of Dating Factory has acquired Datech, better known for its private label platform World Dating Partners. Both companies have offerings in multiple languages and dating niches. The two companies will continue to be operated separately. DatingFactory.com was established in 2009 and provides private label dating platform. DatingFactory.com operates in 15 languages, 40 niches, and has a global data base of millions. World Dating Partners, established in 2001, is a global private label dating platform available in multiple languages.

See full article at PR Web

This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.

Cupid Founders’ £10.8m Payout

Posted on March 9, 2012

Cupidplc logoHERALD SCOTLAND – Mar 9 – Bill Dobbie and Max Polyakov, founders of Cupid, have each netted £10.8M after selling a total of 12M shares. The sale, equivalent to 14.8% of the company, comes just days after Cupid revealed that Mr Polyakov, its business development director, has quit to launch a social gaming business in the US. Mr Dobbie and Mr Polyakov each sold 6M shares at 180p each. The buyers were institutional investors. Following the disposals Mr Dobbie retains 13.8M shares, some 17% of the company, while Mr Polyakov has 12.6M, or 15.5%.

by Tim Sharp
See full article at Herald Scotland

See all posts on Cupid

Anotherfriend.com Buys MaybeFriends.com

Posted on February 8, 2012

Anotherfriend logo newOPW – Feb 8 – WebDev Ltd, the Internet company behind the largest Irish dating site http://www.anotherfriend.com has acquired the Irish dating site, http://www.maybefriends.com from the Saon Group for an undisclosed sum. AnotherFriend.com currently has ~60% market share of the Irish Online Dating market, with over 12.8M page impressions and 290K unique visitors monthly.

See all posts on AnotherFriend
See all posts on MaybeFriends

This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.

IAC/Interactive, Barry Diller Pursue Online Dates

Posted on December 8, 2011

Iac logoINVESTOR.COM – Dec 8 - The company's acquisition in May of Europe's Meetic.com, and its purchase of a 20% stake in China's Zhenai in September, are the latest confirmations that IAC and Diller covet online dating. For Meetic, IAC spent 15 Eur ($21), a share to boost its ownership to 80% from 27%. The shares, traded on the Euronext Paris exchange, were valued at 13.50 at the time, so IAC paid a 56% premium. IAC's dating sites are among its most profitable assets, says Needham & Co. analyst Kerry Rice. In the Q3, IAC reported that its online dating revenue rose 25% to $132.3M.

by Kevin Shalvey
The full article was originally published at Investor.com, but is no longer available.