Easydate widens the net with two new site acquisitions

INTERNET dating specialist Easydate has bought two niche websites as the Edinburgh-based firm continues to expand into a market worth around £2 billion.

The Aim-listed group has bought PlanetSappho.com, a lesbian dating site, for 200,000 and has paid 25,000 for Spanish-language site Granamor, which is aimed at people looking to get married.

Easydate said the two sites, which bring its portfolio from 13 to 15 portals, will help it expand into a market worth 100 million a year in the UK alone.

The European market for internet dating is currently worth €550m (457m) a year, while, in the US, the market will be worth $2 billion (1.3bn) a year by 2012.

The company said it will use the acquisitions as a platform to introduce other Easydate brands globally.

Granamor, which was launched in 2003, has 200,000 members across the Spanish-speaking world.

PlanetSappho has more than 250,000 members spread across the United States, UK, Canada, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand. Easydate believes the site, established in 2006, has great potential for growth.

The company also announced yesterday that it has purchased a six-month lease for the domain Flirt.com, which works in English speaking markets. The company has the option to buy the site if the trial period goes well.

Bill Dobbie, chief executive of Easydate, said: "These two small acquisitions, combined with the Flirt.com licence, further enhance the company's position as a niche dating consolidator and are important steps in growing Easydate into a more substantial global internet dating business."

The company has also hooked-up with Associated Newspapers and National Magazines to run large-scale speed dating events and singles parties. The first dating parties will be run in association with the Metro newspaper and Cosmopolitan and Men's Health magazine.