–“Simple and Affordable” Fast-growing Start-up Adds Complementary Offering to Ancestry.com–
PROVO, Utah, April 25, 2012
– Ancestry.com Inc. (Nasdaq: ACOM) announced
today it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire
Archives.com, a family history website, for approximately $100 million
in cash and assumed liabilities.
This
transaction will enable Ancestry.com to add a differentiated service
targeted to a complementary segment of the growing family history
category.
In addition, Ancestry.com will welcome a team of talented engineers,
digital marketers, and family history innovators into the Ancestry.com
fold and also gain access to a proprietary technology platform that has
supported Archives.com’s rapid growth.
Archives.com is owned
and operated by Inflection LLC, a Silicon Valley-based technology
company. Since Archives.com’s launch in January 2010, the site has
rapidly grown to more than 380,000 paying subscribers
who pay approximately $39.95 a year. Archives.com offers access to
over 2.1 billion historical records, including birth records,
obituaries, immigration and passenger lists, historical newspapers, and
U.S. and U.K. Censuses.
“Archives.com has built
a fantastic and fast-growing business that we think is highly
complementary to Ancestry.com’s online family history offering,” said Tim Sullivan, President and Chief Executive Officer
of Ancestry.com. “We love their focus on
making family history simple and affordable, and we are excited to help
the talented Archives.com team continue to grow alongside Ancestry.com,
Fold3.com, and Family Tree Maker.”
“Family history remains
a dynamic and growing online category,” added Sullivan. “Archives.com’s
focus is consistent with our mission to help everyone discover,
preserve and share their family history, which will
help continue our efforts in delivering amazing discoveries to an even
broader audience.”
Over the past two years, Archives.com has partnered
with multiple well-known family history organizations that have helped
build out Archives.com robust collection of family history records. Most
recently, Archives.com partnered with the U.S. National Archives to
provide free digital access to the recently released
1940 U.S. Federal Census.
“We are proud of the experience we’ve built with
Archives.com and believe strongly in its future potential,” said Matthew
Monahan, CEO and Co-Founder of Inflection. “Combining with
Ancestry.com positions Archives.com to best capitalize
on that potential, pairing complementary visions of the marketplace and
the opportunity. We’ve long admired Ancestry.com’s content and
technology and the innovations that the Ancestry.com team continues to
bring to market. We’re excited to see how this transaction
expands the reach of family history to an even larger audience.”
Upon completion of the
transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, including
expiration of the HSR waiting period, Ancestry.com will continue to
operate Archives.com separately retaining its
brand and website. Multiple Inflection employees, including key
product and engineering executives are expected to join the Ancestry.com
team.
No comments:
Post a Comment