Genealogy website Ancestry.com (Nasdaq: ACOM) is being sold to the European private-equity firm Permira, for $1.6 billion, a 40 percent increase since the company first began chasing private equity interest in July.
UK private equity giant Permira Advisers said it had completed the $1.6 billion acquisition of Ancestry.com (NASDAQ:ACOM), the most popular genealogy websites.
Shareholders of the Provo, Utah-based Ancestry.com approved the deal on Thursday.
The company claims to maintain more than 11 billion records included in 41 million family trees compiled by its 2 million subscribers.
Permira, with capital exceeding $30 billion, made its $32-a-share offer for Ancestry.com in late October. That was 41 percent above the price at which management announced it was putting the company up for sale on June 5.
Ancestry.com CEO Timothy Sullivan and other senior managers will remain with the company. They said under Permira ownership, there will be funds to expand in Europe and expand their business. The company was advised by Qatalyst Partners in the sale.
Other sites in the genealogy sector include private MyHeritage.com of Israel, a venture capital-backed company that last month acquired Geni.com. MyHeritage.com also has a U.S. office in Provo.
