BT, Britain’s largest telecommunications group and ITV, the largest commercial broadcasting company in the UK have both tabled bids for Friends Reunited, the web site operator which is up for sale at an estimated 150 million pounds. Others who have also lined up for the bid include News Corporation, Daily Mail & General Trust and an unnamed internet firm.
Set up five years ago, Friends Reunited is going to be advised by Long Acre Partners on its sell off . The interest evinced by BT and ITV is seen as a paradigm shift of trends in the media space. While BT is eager to leverage Friends Reunited’s connection with telephony firm Friends and Family. ITV, on the other hand, is eyeing Friends Reunited with a view to expand its advertising base. Chief executive, ITV, Charles Allen had recently floated a division called ITV Consumer following the dwindling advertising revenues of ITV1 which is considered to be its flagship channel.
The presence of so many prestigious media companies in the bid has forced financial analysts to review the selling price well above the original projection of 100 million pounds.
Friends Reunited has three main stake holders in the husband and wife team of Steve and Julie Pankhurst and their friend Jason Porter. Michael Murphy, the chief executive also owns a minor stake in the company. Its profits for the year 2006 are forecast at 8 million pounds up from 6.5 million pounds it is expected to notch up in the year ending 2005.
Friends Reunited was rated among the top most influential sites ever by Nielsen, the famous rating firm, in 2003. It is also credited with having over 12 million members, which accounts for half of all households in the UK with internet access.
Posted
on : Mon, 17 Oct 2005 09:20 GMT | Business News
By : Chris Rowe
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