Online dating firm Cupid has bought rival Uniform Dating for £7 million.
Set up in 2005, Cupid is owned by serial technology entrepreneur Bill Dobbie. It was known as Easydate before changing its name following a row with EasyJet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou.
The company specialises in three main areas – traditional dating, casual dating and niche dating sites. It claims a base of more than 34 million members in 39 countries, and made pre-tax profits of £7m in 2011.
Dobbie said: “We are very pleased to add a further high-quality business to the Cupid family of dating sites. Uniform Dating is a fast growing, profitable business, which is a dominant player in the uniformed personnel dating niche and fits perfectly into our portfolio of sites.
“We look forward to driving Uniform Dating’s growth further through our international footprint and marketing expertise. The acquisition further demonstrates our ongoing plan to drive earnings and shareholder value both organically and through strategic acquisitions.”
The deal will see Cupid pay £3.6m up front and a further £3.4m depending on Uniform Dating’s performance.
The Aim-quoted company will issue £3.6m of shares to help pay for the acquisition, with the rest of the cash coming from existing reserves.
Shares in the Edinburgh-based firm jumped by up to 4 per cent in early trading.
Last year Cupid snapped up a number of Portuguese-language website operators in Brazil.
The string of acquisitions helped the firm – which owns brands including Be Naughty, Flirt and Girls Date For Free – to last week post an interim profit of £5.9m, which was flat year-on-year but beat house broker Peel Hunt’s expectations for £5.5m.
The company was founded in 2005 by Ukrainian doctor Max Polyakov, who left the business in March to set up an online social gaming firm in California.
Polyakov reduced his holding in the firm to 15.4 per cent from 23 per cent to fund his new venture but signed a deal preventing him from selling further shares until next spring.