Today the Federal Cartel Office (Bundeskartellamt), Germany’s national competition regulator, approved the sale of EliteMedianet GmbH, which operates the premium online dating agency ElitePartner, to THMMS Holding GmbH, a subsidiary of the private equity fund Oakley Capital Private Equity II. The transaction is expected to close on 2 November 2015.
TOMORROW FOCUS AG’s decision to sell EliteMedianet GmbH to Oakley Capital Private Equity II was announced on 8 June 2015 but was subject to approval under anti-cartel legislation. The sale reflects TOMORROW FOCUS AG’s strategic realignment towards transaction-based business models in its Travel segment.
Oakley Capital Private Equity II focuses on investing in fast-growing companies in the UK and Western Europe. In April 2015 it acquired Parship GmbH, which operates an online dating agency by the same name.
Christoph Schuh, Member of the Management Board at TOMORROW FOCUS AG, responded to news of the approval: ‘We would like to express our gratitude to everyone at ElitePartner for their hard work and the success they have made of the company. In recent years, led by CEO Dr Jost Schwaner, they boosted EliteMedianet’s contribution to Group earnings despite very tough competition. Another crucial factor in the company’s success has been the independent market position that Jost Schwaner continually adapted. We wish him and the whole team at EliteMedianet GmbH every success in the future. It is our firm belief that the company has excellent prospects for growth under the mantle of Oakley Capital.’
About TOMORROW FOCUS AG
TOMORROW FOCUS AG (ISIN DE005495329) is based in Munich, Germany, and is one of the country’s leading digital travel firms. With a total workforce of around 400, the TOMORROW FOCUS Group comprises HOLIDAYCHECK AG, which operates hotel review and travel booking portals by the same name, as well as the car rental portal MIETWAGENCHECK, and WEBASSETS B.V., which operates the ZOOVER hotel review portals and the METEOVISTA/WEERONLINE weather portals, as well as TOMORROW TRAVEL B.V., which operates the Dutch online travel agent TJINGO.
The Group portfolio also includes JAMEDA GmbH, which operates the biggest German physician rating portal JAMEDA.de, and ORGANIZE.ME GmbH, which operates an app-based document organisation and reminder system. TOMORROW FOCUS AG is currently negotiating the sale of these two subsidiaries.
About Oakley Capital Private Equity II
Oakley Capital Private Equity II is an unlisted mid-market private equity fund with the aim of providing investors with significant long term capital appreciation. It's investment strategy is to focus on buy-out opportunities in industries with the potential for growth, consolidation and performance improvement. The fund seeks to invest in companies with scale in their industry subsectors, thereby creating a sustainable earnings stream which should command a premium on exit.
Oakley Capital Private Equity II is advised by Oakley Capital Limited, a privately owned asset management and financial advisory business with over $1 billion of assets under management which has a focus on investing in the telecoms, IT and media space.