The Meet Group has revealed that its proposed takeover by ProSieben’s online dating arm has officially been completed.
A brand new parent company has been created, ParshipMeet Group, which will look after all of the dating platforms in the portfolio. The Meet Group houses five dating and streaming platforms, MeetMe, Tagged, Skout, LOVOO and Tagged, while Parship Group is responsible for ‘matchmaking’ services eharmony, Parship and ElitePartner.
The completed deal was an all-cash transaction for $6.30 per fully diluted share which represented an enterprise value in the region of $500 million.
Tim Schiffers, CEO of the newly formed ParshipMeet Group, said in a statement: “By combining The Meet Group’s assets with Parship Group’s strengths, we’ve created a global dating leader and one of the most diversified portfolios of dating brands in the world.
“We see significant potential to further the growth of The Meet Group’s video platform-as-a-service products, as well opportunities for knowledge-sharing and cross-selling.”
He also insisted that there are no current plans for a crossover with Parship Group which will continue to operate in its own “respective segment of the market”.
The Meet Group’s CEO Geoff Cook added that he is “thrilled to combine” with the Hamburg-based dating company.
Reports that an acquisition was in the pipeline first emerged at the end of 2019, before a deal was agreed and confirmed in early March. German regulators approved the takeover four months later, as there were initially some small concerns that it would violate anti-competition regulations.
Visit the new ParshipMeet Group website here.