Spark Networks to buy Zoosk for $255M to push North American mobile dating market

March 22, 2019

Spark Networks SE said it agreed to buy Zoosk Inc. for $255 million in cash and stock, creating the second largest mobile dating company in the world.

Berlin-based Spark will issue 12.98 million American Depository Shares valued at $150 million, based on the Spark Networks closing price of $11.53 a share on March 20th. Zoosk shareholders will get another $95 million in cash at closing and $10 million in deferred cash by December 2020.

The combined companies will have more than one million paying subscribers between them and the agreement is expected to add more than $50 million in adjusted EBITDA.

“Zoosk is one of the strongest dating apps in the North American market, which comprises half the $5 billion global online dating opportunity,” Jeronimo Folgueira, chief executive officer at Spark Networks SE, in the announcement.

He said expanding into North America has been a key focus of the company, as it has acquired numerous brands in the past 18 months. The firm now has SilverSingles, Christian Mingle, Jdate and JSwipe brands in its portfolio.

The existing Spark Networks team will continue to manage the company. Zoosk CEO Steven McArthur and Deepak Kamra, general partner at Caanan Partners, the largest shareholder at Zoosk, will join the Spark board of directors.

The agreement is scheduled to close by the third quarter 2019, dependent on shareholder approval, receipt of a permit for the ADS issuance and other conditions.

Topics: Financial News, Mobile Apps, Mobile Payments

Companies: Spark Networks

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