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Official: T-Mobile and Orange plan to merge, forming UK’s largest mobile operator

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t-mobile-orange-logosThe speculation is over as two of the UK’s mobile phone network operators have announced their intention to merge.

If the application from T-Mobile and Orange is approved, it would make the combined company the largest operator in the UK, with a 37% market share, propelling it past O2.

The deal is due to be completed by November, with the two companies unsurprisingly speaking of the “substantial benefits to UK customers” the merger would bring.

The proposal has to get past competition regulators first. [Read more…]

9rules sells up to Splashpress Media

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In a post titled 9rules welcomes its new overlords, Paul Scrivens has announced that the network has been sold to Splashpress Media (owner of 901am):

Over the past couple of months the Triad has been considering what to do with 9rules. If you have followed us over the years you know that we have no problems making big changes to our site and community with the chance of making it better. However, we came to the point where the ideas stopped flowing and we were stuck.

…we have decided to reach out to a company that knows a thing or two about blogs and could bring in a fresh new team of talent to take 9rules even further. Enter Splashpress Media. Why Splashpress? Because not only do they have the people that have a passion for publishing online content, but they also have the resources to make things happen without being too large as to forget the core of what makes 9rules special, the community.

[Read more…]

Facebook acquires FriendFeed

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The big social network news of the day is Facebook’s acquisition of FriendFeed.

facebook-friendfeedFriendFeeds’ cofounder Bret Taylor spoke of the two networks’ “common vision of giving people tools to share and connect with their friends”, while Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg spoke of how he “admired their team for creating such a simple and elegant service for people to share information” ever since he first used FriendFeed.

For the moment, FriendFeed will continue to run as a standalone service, while all FriendFeed’s staff will work for Facebook and its directors will take new senior positions. [Read more…]

ITV sells Friends Reunited for £25m; just 14% of purchase price

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Troubled British commercial broadcaster ITV has sold the Friends Reunited social networking site for £25m, about one-seventh of what it paid for it in 2005.

friends-reunited-logoThough ITV reckons the site is still profitable, losses in other parts of its broadcasting business prompted the sale.

Friends Reunited, a site initially started from a bedroom in North London by Steve and Julie Pankhurst in 2000 as a way for people to find their old school friends, has seen its market share overtaken by the likes of Facebook. [Read more…]

Match.com acquires People Media for $80 million cash

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IAC’s Match.com has signed an agreement to acquire People Media, operator of targeted dating sites, from American Capital Ltd for $80 million in cash.

The acquisition of People Media will expand and strengthen Match.com’s position in the online dating space. People Media operates 27 websites including BlackPeopleMeet.com, SingleParentMeet.com, SeniorPeopleMeet.com, BBPeopleMeet.com and LDSPlanet.com.

Greg Blatt, CEO of Match.com, said:

People Media’s momentum will continue, and that the combination of Match.com and People Media can accelerate each business’ current growth trends in a variety of ways, including through the sharing of product development and online marketing expertise and the ability to market a broader array of services to the combined customer base, thereby improving customer acquisition economics for both companies.