On line 15 the name Andrew Carnegie, founder of Carnegie Steel, is seen with Civil War enlistees in a book of Civil War draft records. The National Archives and Ancestry.com made digitized Civil War records available online. (Photo: Jacquelyn Martin AP)
PROVO, Utah -- Genealogy website Ancestry.com has agreed to be
acquired by a group led by European private equity firm Permira Funds in
a cash deal valued at about $1.6 billion.
The offered price of $32 per share (ACOM)
is a nearly 10% premium over Friday's closing price of $29.18. Company
shares jumped nearly 8%, or $2.31, to $31.49 Monday in premarket
trading.
Ancestry.com also said the price represents a 41% premium
over its closing price in early June before reports surfaced that the
company had retained a financial advisor for a possible sale. Company
shares have climbed from around $21 in early June and hit a 52-week high
of $33.80 in early August before dropping back.
Ancestry.com
operates a website for researching family history and has more than 2
million paying subscribers. It says more than 10 billion records have
been added to its site over the past 15 years.
Ancestry.com said
there will be no anticipated changes in its operating structure with
this deal. The company will remain headquartered in Provo, Utah, and it
will continue to focus on investing in content, technology and expanding
product offerings in areas like DNA.
CEO Tim Sullivan and Chief
Financial Officer Howard Hochhauser will keep a majority of their equity
stakes, and Spectrum Equity will remain an investor. Spectrum owns a 30
percent stake in the company.
The company expects the deal to close early next year.
Associated Press