GLOBE NEWSWIRE – May 18 – Gemalto, the world leader in digital security, is supplying Meetic Group, with its Netsize direct operator billing solution. Mobile subscribers of Numericable-SFR, French cable and telecoms provider are now able to pay for subscriptions via their regular phone bill.
Category: Meetic
Meetic Laid Off Most Of Its Staff In Spain
SABEMOSDIGITAL – Sep 22 – IAC has decided that they can manage the Spanish business from France, and laid off most of Meetic's staff in Spain. This will also affect Portugal, Italy and the Netherlands, which will also be controlled from Paris, and the Nordic countries, which will be led from UK. Meetic laid off more than 10 people including the country manager Jose Ruano, and marketing director, Miguel Javier Mangas. The remaining staff (rumored to be just 3 people) moved into a smaller office.
by Miguel Ángel Uriondo
The full article was originally published at Sabemos Digital, but is no longer available.
Top French Dating Sites Warned About Breaching Privacy
TELECOMPAPER – July 29 – French data protection agency CNIL has served notice to eight dating sites including Meetic, Attractive World, AdopteUnMec, Easyflirt, Rencontre and Mektoube after an investigation revealed a number of breaches of privacy. The sites did not ask for permission to collect sensitive data.
Match Group Could Fetch ~$1.2B From Its IPO
BLOOMBERG – June 26 – IAC’s Match Group plans to to sell ~20% of its common stock this year. The sale could fetch $600M to $1.2B if 10% – 20% of the business is sold to the public, according to Cowen and Co., valuing the division at $6B or more. IAC bought Match.com in 2003. Meetic joined in 2009 along with People Media. In 2011, IAC spent $50M for OKCupid. In 2012 came Tinder which "gamified" the online dating process. "There’s a lot of people that just weren’t prepared to get onto Internet dating," says Mark Brooks, a dating-website analyst and consultant at Courtland Brooks. "Tinder warmed people up to the psychology that it’s not a dating site. Everybody is on it; it’s fun. That’s really the thrill ride here." But free and fun dating apps can be volatile, while cannibalizing customers from such paid services as Match.com, Brooks says. Last year, as the popularity of free-to-use Tinder grew, paid subscriptions at Match fell by ~100K in the Q4, compared with Q3. Now IAC is trying to make money out of Tinder.
Match Group To IPO This Year
PR NEWSWIRE – June 25 – IAC's Board of Directors has approved the pursuit of an IPO of Match Group. Joey Levin, formerly CEO of its Search & Apps business, has been named CEO of IAC and joined its Board of Directors. Greg Blatt will remain Chairman, and Sam Yagan CEO of The Match Group. IAC expects The Match Group to issue less than 20% of its common stock in the IPO, with IAC's remaining stake in The Match Group represented by both high- and low-vote common shares. The IPO is expected to be completed during Q4 of this year.
See full article at IAC website
This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.
Meetic Available On Android Wear SmartWatch
PIANETACELLULARE.IT – Nov 5 – Dating site Meetic has launched a new Meetic Wear App. The app for Android Wear smartwatch is designed with a simple interface.
See full article at PianetAcellulare.it
Mark Brooks: The first Android Wear app by a major dating site. Bravo Meetic.
This post also appears on Wearable.ai.
Public Companies, Mark Brooks Presentation
OPW – May 23 – Match.com posted 2013 revenues of ~$800M and profits of $220M, including Meetic. Spark Networks projected 2013 revenues were ~$70M, with ~$13M in loss due to high marketing expenses. Jiayuan.com will earn an estimated $80M in 2013 revenues, with projected growth to $300M in 2015.
For additional companies and details, please view the video below.
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Traffic To French Dating Sites Up 40% On Valentine’s Day
AFP – Feb 13 – Of the 18M single people in France, one in two uses Internet dating, said Jessica Delpirou, director in France of Meetic. On Feb 14 last year, Meeic saw a 38% increase in people signing up compared with other Thursdays in the month. Lovoo says it has seen recent monthly increases in users of ~30-40%.
The full article was originally published at FMT, but is no longer available.
Match.com France Confirms Squeeze-out And Delisting Of Meetic Shares
BUSINESS WIRE – Jan 24 - Match.com France Limited has confirmed its intention to implement a mandatory squeeze-out and pursuant delisting of Meetic shares from the Euronext exchange. The procedure follows suit with the simplified takeover bid initiated by Match.com France and will be completed on January 31, 2014. It will involve 179k Meetic shares at EUR 18.75 per share.
The full article was originally published at WSJ, but is no longer available.
Badoo Wants To Shake Up Dating Market In US And UK
BLOOMBERG – Dec 3 - Badoo has attracted ~200M people worldwide, 25M of them are active. The challenge is now to expand beyond its strongholds in Southern Europe and Latin America. Badoo is eyeing Asia, UK and US. The company has been profitable since 2009, and sales last year expanded ~33% to $200M. It has hired Goldman Sachs Group as an adviser and doesn’t rule out an IPO. Meetic and Match.com are not concerned about the challenge from Badoo. Sam Yagan said his service is superior to Badoo and is rated higher by users.
by Ilya Khrennikov & Manuel Baigorri
The full article was originally published at Bloomberg, but is no longer available.