ProSiebenSat.1 Buys into Online Dating Service Parship Elite

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MUNICH: Continuing to expand its presence in the digital space, ProSiebenSat.1 Group has acquired a majority stake in the Parship Elite Group, an online dating service.

The group encompasses the brands Parship and ElitePartner and is a leader in online dating in the German-speaking world. ProSiebenSat.1 will acquire 50 percent of the company’s equity, plus one share, for a purchase price of 100 million euros ($111 million).

As part of the transaction, the ProSiebenSat.1 Group will also replace existing Parship Elite Group loans in the amount of 100 million euros ($111 million) by providing preferred capital bearing a fixed rate of interest. The transaction is based on a company value of 300 million euros ($334 million). The previous owners, Oakley Capital Private Equity II, and the existing management will continue to hold minority interests.

Christian Wegner, member of the executive board of digital ventures and commerce of the ProSiebenSat.1 Group, said: “The acquisition of the Parship Elite Group underscores our strategic focus on established, profitable growth companies that are market leaders in their segment, stand to benefit considerably from TV advertising, and reinforce our digital business. Online matchmaking, which is the most relevant category for Parship Elite Group’s business, is the most sustainable segment of the online dating market, growing at an annual rate of 10 percent. Working together with our co-shareholders, we will pursue the goal in the next few years of developing Parship Elite Group’s online dating business in the German-speaking markets and in Europe.”

Gunnar Wiedenfels, CFO of ProSiebenSat.1 Media, added: “Following the Verivox and Etraveli acquisitions, the acquisition of the majority interest in Parship Elite Group is the third large bolt-on acquisition for ProSiebenSat.1 Group within the last 12 months, marking another important milestone to achieving our objective of building a profitably growing digital business footprint outside classical TV advertising. We will thus reflect the future revenue and earnings contributions from Parship Elite Group in an upward revision of our current mid-term financial targets to 2018. Details will be disclosed at our upcoming capital markets day on October 13, 2016.”

Peter Dubens, the managing partner of Oakley Capital Private Equity, said: “We are excited by the opportunity of partnering together with ProSiebenSat.1 and management to continue the impressive growth of Parship Elite Group. We see great growth potential for the company in Europe and are confident that the business will be further enhanced by ProSiebenSat.1’s leading media capabilities.”

Tim Schiffers, CEO of Parship Elite Group, remarked: “The investment by ProSiebenSat.1 will give us further momentum to attain our growth targets. Online dating remains a success story and no other provider covers the relevant target groups as well as we do with our strong brands. We are looking forward to receiving the support of ProSiebenSat.1’s expertise, networks, and above all wide-reach target group appeal on TV.”