After months of speculation about a possible buyout, Ancestry.com ( ACOM ) announced Monday that it is being purchased by an investor group led by European private equity firm Permira.
Permira and co-investors have agreed to pay $32 a share in cash for Ancestry.com, the world's leading online genealogy service. The deal is valued at $1.6 billion. The transaction represents a 41% premium over Ancestry's closing priceon June 5, the last trading day before press reports leaked that Ancestry had retained a financial adviser in connection with a possible sale of the company. Ancestrystock closed Friday at 29.18 and was up 8%, at 31.50, in early trading Monday.
Ancestry CEO Tim Sullivan and CFO Howard Hochhauser will maintain a majority of their equitystakes in the company as part of the transaction. Spectrum Equity, which owns 30% of the company's outstanding shares, alsowill remain an investor in the company.
Ancestry.com has morethan 2 million subscribers for its online family history service. Over the past 15 years, Ancestry has assembled a worldwidecollection of more than 10 billion digitized and indexed records. It has grown through acquisitions, most recently picking up companies like Archives.comand 1000memories.
"We're excited that Permira shares our commitment to keep investing in our technology and product experience to make family history easy and accessible for more and more families around the world," Sullivan said in a statement . "Their strong investment trackrecord in the technology and Internet sectors makes them a terrific adviser and partner as we take the company forward."
Ancestry expects the deal to close in early 2013, pending shareholder approvals.
Ancestry.com and Permira said the company will continueexecuting on its growth strategy and initiatives led by content acquisition and technology investment, including the company's new DNA service.
