RSVP and Oasis have announced details of their merger, which values the combined business at $90m.
RSVP is owned by media company Fairfax Media, while Oasis is backed by TV network Ten Network – who held a 40% stake.
Oasis was launched in 2008 by Dave Heysen and Daniel Haigh.
Launched in 1997, RSVP was Australia’s first online dating site, and was acquired by Fairfax Media – owner of the Sydney Morning Herald – in 2005.
The merger values the combined operations at $90m, and will be completed via a combination of cash and RSVP shares.
When the transaction is complete, Fairfax Media will hold a 58% share in the merged business, Ten Network will take 17% and Oasis’ founders will have 14%.
Oasis CEO and co-founder, Dave Heysen, said:
“Oasis has always admired the RSVP brand in Australia and we look forward to working with a business that has been one of the major players in the Australian market for more than 15 years.
“Together we can ensure that we continue to develop our products to cater for a wider range of the Australian singles market as well as collectively develop ways to best leverage rapidly changing technology.”
The combined business will be run by the RSVP and Oasis teams.
The transaction is expected to complete on 1st July 2014.
Guy Reypert, Group Director Fairfax Digital Ventures, said: “The combination of RSVP and Oasis Active significantly strengthens each company’s respective positions in the Australian market, allows us to achieve efficiencies, and provides additional scale that will create new opportunities in the domestic market in terms of targeted display advertising and product development that would not exist for either business separately.”
The merger will also see the companies pursue international growth in markets like Latin America – where Oasis has a strong presence.
The merged companies may also be floated on the Australian Securities Exchange.
The talks began back in February and were officially announced yesterday.
Fairfax Media have sold a number of their digital assets in the past, such as the sale of accommodation business Stayz for $220m last December, and the sale of auction website Trade Me in 2012.