Saongroup.com buys dating service

Love was in the air at Denis O'Brien's Saongroup.com yesterday as the web-based recruiter acquired online dating company Maybefriends.com for an undisclosed sum.

But rather than being a love match, it was more a case of keeping it in the family - Maybefriends.com was owned by Mr O'Brien's Communicorp radio business.

Mr O'Brien acquired Maybefriends.com as part of his €200 million takeover of Emap's three Irish radio stations last year.

The dating website was a subsidiary of Dublin station FM104, which was owned by Emap. Mr O'Brien has agreed to sell FM104 to UTV for €52 million but will retain Maybefriends.com.

He chose the eve of St Valentine's Day to consummate the deal with Saongroup.com, which operates recruitment websites worldwide, including Irishjobs.ie.

According to accounts just filed, Maybefriends.com had turnover of €143,215 to the end of March. It posted a small loss of €1,623 to give it accumulated losses of €422,764. The accounts show it employed one administrative staff member, costing €61,411.

Maybefriends.com went live in 2004 to match up single people throughout Ireland, costing €20 a month to use. It describes itself as "simple and fun" to use, and as having been responsible for 80 weddings to date and millions of dates throughout Ireland.

The website estimates there are 850,000 single adults in Ireland.

Leslie Buckley, Saongroup.com's chairman and co-owner, said the deal would broaden the company's horizons. "We plan to grow the business aggressively to build on an already successful platform," he said. "We are also looking to develop our online dating business internationally."

The global online dating market is reputed to be worth €1 billion annually.

© 2008 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times