BT and ITV are among bidders for Friends Reunited

by Staff, Brand Republic 17-Oct-05, 08:55

LONDON - BT and ITV have made bids for Friends Reunited, going up against the Daily Mail & General Trust and News International to take control of the successful online business.

According to a report in the Sunday Times, BT is interested in the five-year-old company so it can use it to promote its Friends & Family tariff. ITV is believed to be making a bid because it is looking at how it can boost revenues beyond its core advertising.

Originally it was believed that Friends Reunited, founded by Steve and Julie Pankhurst, would be sold for around £100m but with BT and ITV entering the fray, the price could go higher if a bidding war ensues. News Corporation has earmarked up to $2bn (£1.13bn) for internet acquisitions this year, and has spent around $1.2bn of this buying IG Entertainment and Intermix Media.

Friends Reunited lets people look up old classmates and find out what they have been up to since they left school. It instantly attracted widespread media attention -- not least because of the number of marriages and divorces it spawned -- and now has 1.1m paying customers.

Friends Reunited has branched out to cover workmates, families and a dating website. Acquisitions have included the Australian school reunion site Schoolfriends.com.au, which it bought in 2004, and Top Dog Jobs, which it bought earlier this year.

The company is mostly owned by the Pankhursts along with co-founder Jason Porter, but 30% is owned by a management team that includes CEO Michael Murphy.

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