ITV’s new guard will be happy with this – after a three-month inquiry, the Competition Commission has provisionally approved the £25 million sale of Friends Reunited to Scottish genealogy site operator Brightsolid.
The sale was referred by the OFT in November but the commission has concluded “the tie-up poses no threat to customers of online genealogy services”.
Inquiry chair Laura Carstensen (in the CC ruling)…
“We found that while there is a degree of overlap in the activities of the two companies, it is small and their business models are different, and in the absence of the merger would be likely to remain so. After the merger another website, Ancestry.co.uk, will remain the largest supplier in this market and its presence, along with potential entry by new suppliers and the alternatives provided by free sites, will ensure that the merged company faces strong competition