Money info site The Motley Fool is selling off its UK consumer finance spin-off Lovemoney.com by means of a management and staff buy-out, just five months after launching it.
Fool.co.uk launched the site in April, offering blog articles, advice and financial product comparison features for personal finance users. But the US-owned network has decided to concentrate on its roots, the subject of investing in stocks.
Lovemoney.com, in a release, describes “a £2 million ($3.3 million) deal to become majority employee-owned” and MD Saul Devine says: “The fact that lovemoney.com employees are prepared to put their hands in their own pockets in a downturn shows just how much faith our staff have in the Lovemoney.com brand.”
But it’s not clear quite how many “employees”, versus management, have done the deal. (Update: Lovemoney.com tell us: “All lovemoney.com employees have varying stakes in the business. The Motley Fool, as an employee owned business itself, was keen to help lovemoney.com develop and made a significant investment to allow that to happen. The Motley Fool remains a minority investor.”)
The site remains linked to from Fool.co.uk’s main nav.