18th March 2010
brightsolid completes acquisition of Friends Reunited from ITV plc
brightsolid today announced the completion of its acquisition of Friends Reunited Group from ITV plc for £25 million, following clearance by the Competition Commission.
The online innovation business, which is owned by DC Thomson, already owns and operates a number of online sites where people go to search their past, share their story and connect with people and places. It announced its intention to acquire Friends Reunited Group in August 2009 believing it an excellent opportunity to utilise this experience to bring new focus to the iconic brands in the group (Friends Reunited, Genes Reunited and Friends Reunited Dating).
The completion of the deal will now enable brightsolid to integrate the brands within its online publishing business. As part of this the genealogy site Genes Reunited will remain separate from brightsolid’s other genealogy services, including findmypast.co.uk. Both brands are already key players in the dynamic family history sector and united are set to make brightsolid one of Britain’s leading genealogy businesses.
Chris Van der Kuyl, CEO brightsolid said: “It is fantastic news to finally get the green light from the Competition Commission for the completion of the deal. It has certainly been a frustrating period for all involved and meant that we were unable to take any control of the brands until this point. We’re now looking forward to working with the team at Friends Reunited Group to agreeing and implementing the new ideas to shape the direction of this exciting business.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
Friends Reunited is the original social network with 20.6 million members. It was launched in 2000 to put old school friends back in touch with each other and swiftly became a British media phenomenon. Sister site Genes Reunited was launched in 2003 and is currently the UK’s largest family history website with over 9 million members worldwide and 650 million names listed. Together with Friends Reunited Dating, the group attracts three million unique users per month.
For further information, please contact:
Inez de Koning
Direct dial: 0207 294 3623
Mobile: 07940 526021
About brightsolid
brightsolid began life in 1995 as Scotland Online and is a leading UK independent provider of IT business services to large public and private sector organisations.
brightsolid helps its clients to design and implement high volume, high availability, high performance online products and services. It has done this successfully since the mid 1990s when it became one of the pioneering internet companies of the time. brightsolid has two divisions, online publishing and online technology.
brightsolid’s online technology division is a leading UK independent provider of online IT business services and an ISP delivering business-critical services. The company’s online technology division specialises in managing clients’ information availability and online presence through hosting, internet access, applications and business continuity products and services.
brightsolid’s online publishing division has significant expertise in the digitisation and management of records in a fast-growing online market. It manages ScotlandsPeople.gov.uk, a partnership between the General Register Office for Scotland, the National Archives of Scotland and the Court of the Lord Lyon.
In 2007, brightsolid acquired findmypast.co.uk, an online family history site. findmypast.co.uk was the first website to put the complete birth, marriage and death indexes for England and Wales online. The company also successfully launched ancestorsonboard.com, the online passenger lists records resource, for The National Archives in January 2006. It included details of over 24 million travellers, including the historic details of the Titanic’s maiden voyage. brightsolid recently launched the online magazines ‘Discover My Past Scotland’ and ‘Discover My Past England’.
Headquartered in Dundee, the company is owned by the publishers D.C. Thomson and has offices in Edinburgh and London.
About DC Thomson
DC Thomson & Co Ltd is a long-established, family-owned and run company which has been publishing newspapers and magazines for well over 100 years.
The firm produces more than 100 million copies of their many titles each year including respected local and national newspapers, books, annuals and a range of comics and magazines for both adults and children.
DC Thomson has also brought to life some of the UK’s most iconic characters – such as The Beano’s Dennis and Gnasher and The Dandy’s Desperate Dan.
Founded in 1905 it remains a major Scottish publisher, operating from three sites in Dundee, and branch offices in Glasgow, Manchester and London, as well as a chain of local district offices which help the Company retain its links with the communities they serve.
The company has an unrivalled portfolio, owning other companies in the publishing arena such as Aberdeen Journals Ltd, Parragon Publishing Limited, Peter Haddock Publishing Ltd and Puzzler Media Holdings Limited, as well as brightsolid.
Filed under: Uncategorized
