brightsolid buys Friends Reunited

brightsolid, an IT business owned by publisher D C Thompson & Co, has acquired social networking site Friends Reunited from ITV Plc for £25 million.

Friends Reunited was launched in 2000 to put old school friends back in touch with each other and was sold to ITV for £175 million in 2005. In 2003, the company launched Genes Reunited, a family history website, which complements brightsolid’s genealogy business, findmypast.com. brightsolid is owned by Dundee-based publisher D C Thomson & Co.

Chris van der Kuyl, CEO of brightsolid, said: ‘This marks another step forward in the future strategy of brightsolid, widening its offering to the consumer marketplace, in particular by creating Britain’s leading genealogy business.’

The deal comes after ITV reported pre-tax losses of £105 million in the first six months of 2009. There is also no update on who is going to replace CEO Michael Grade, who is due to stand down at the end of 2009.

Nick Britton

Nick was the Managing Editor for growthbusiness.co.uk when it was owned by Vitesse Media, before moving on to become Head of Investment Group and Editor at What Investment and thence to Head of Intermediary... More by Nick Britton