Cupid finds amour with French acquisition

couple on mountain holding hands Cupid says it has a base of more than 34 million members in 39 countries

Edinburgh-based Cupid has become one of the largest online dating businesses in France, after buying a French firm whose brands include amour.com.

Cupid said it paid 3.7m euros (£2.9m) for Assistance Genie Logiciel (AGL).

AGL, which trades mainly in France, owns a number of dating brands including amour.com, serencontrer.com and ulla.com.

The business was founded in 1986 and runs a team of 25 staff based near Paris.

AGL achieved revenues of €6.5m (£5m) last year.

Cupid chief executive Bill Dobbie said: "The AGL business is a highly complementary addition to our current French portfolio, allowing us to become one of the largest French online dating businesses.

"In addition, we see the potential to expand at least one of the French brands into other international markets."

AIM-listed Cupid, which claims a base of more than 34 million members in 39 countries, made pre-tax profits of £7m in 2011.

It specialises in three main areas - traditional dating, casual dating and niche dating sites.

More on This Story

Related Stories

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external Internet sites

More Scotland business stories

RSS

Features & Analysis

  • The bottoms of Eric Orton's feetFoot loose Watch

    How barefoot Indian tribe inspired a US fitness revolution


  • Anthony Weiner, Medea Benjamin of the group Code Pink, and Amanda BynesTweets of the week

    Hecklers, Anthony Weiner and more - all in 140 characters


  • Eccles cake10 things

    Don't microwave Eccles cakes, and nine other nuggets


  • CrashAlertWatch out!

    The 'safety belt' for the walking texter


Elsewhere on the BBC

  • Florence’s Medici Chapel Art over politics

    Michelangelo managed to complete Florence’s Medici Chapel during a time of uprising

Programmes

  • A smartwatchClick Watch

    Marc Cieslak looks at the watches which are capable of doing more than just telling the time

BBC © 2013 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.