eHarmony.com

The October 2018 acquisition of eharmony, which was founded in 2000 in Los Angeles and expects to register 2.8 million new users this year, complements ProSieben’s own Parship dating franchise which is the market leader in Germany. Terms were not disclosed for the deal to buy eharmony, which was founded by clinical psychologist Neil Clark Warren and uses an extensive online questionnaire to determine the compatibility of potential couples seeking long-term relationships. Parship and sister brand ElitePartner, which count 2 million registrations a year, use an algorithm that was developed separately in Germany but that is based on a similar approach. The transaction follows through on ProSieben’s push to diversify away from its core commercial TV franchise, The Munich-based broadcaster bought eharmony via its newly created Nucom division, in which investor General Atlantic took a 24.9 percent stake in February. Nucom in turn owns 94 percent of Parship. Privately held eharmony has raised a total of $113 million in two funding rounds, the most recent being in 2004, when it was backed by Tuputele Ventures, TCV, Sequoia Capital and Fayez Sarofim & Co, according to Crunchbase. Eharmony CEO Grant Langston will continue to run the business while representatives of Parship will join its board.