The Meet Group (MEET) Agrees to be Acquired for $500M at $6.30/Sh by ProSiebenSat.1 & General Atlantic Joint Company, NuCom Group

The Meet Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: MEET), a leading portfolio of mobile dating apps, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by ProSiebenSat.1`s and General Atlantic’s joint company NuCom Group in an all cash transaction for $6.30 per fully diluted share representing an enterprise value of approximately $500 million. Together with NuCom Group’s portfolio company Parship Group, a matchmaking platform with its brands Parship, Elite Partner and eharmony, The Meet Group will become an integral part of a global leader in the online dating and social entertainment sector.

After careful and thorough review, and following consultation with The Meet Group’s financial and legal advisors, the transaction was unanimously approved by The Meet Group’s board of directors. The purchase price represents a 30% and 43% premium to the unaffected 30 and 60 trading day volume weighted average price, respectively, to The Meet Group’s common stock through December 13, 2019, the last trading day prior to published market speculation regarding a potential transaction involving the company.

“The Meet Group Board of Directors undertook a robust process, which culminated in a transaction that we believe will deliver certain and immediate value to our shareholders,” said Spencer Rhodes, Chairman of The Meet Group Board of Directors. “We are excited about this transaction and the significant benefits resulting from a combination with Parship Group,” said Geoff Cook, Chief Executive Officer of The Meet Group. “This transaction will allow us to tap new strategic growth opportunities by leveraging our video platform and ProSiebenSat.1’s experience with content and entertainment. What’s more, with this transaction and the participation of both General Atlantic and ProSiebenSat.1, we will achieve a new level of financial scale and backing, which has the potential to further accelerate our growth.”

The Meet Group’s freemium dating brands, featuring its industry-leading video platform technology, will be combined with NuCom’s portfolio company Parship Group, which operates premium subscription dating brands including eharmony, Parship and Elite Partner. The transaction will diversify the revenue streams of both companies and increase their combined international footprint by broadening the companies’ user base.

Max Conze, CEO, ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE: “The acquisition of The Meet Group is one of ProSiebenSat.1’s largest transactions. It will significantly advance our ambition to create one of the leading global players in online dating and interactive live video. We believe the combination of these two successful and complementary businesses will also create synergies within the ProSiebenSat.1 universe and accelerate the growth of our market share in the German live video apps sector.”

Tim Schiffers, CEO Parship Group: “Following a successful acquisition of eharmony, we have proven that we can manage new businesses and accelerate their growth by combining the best of both worlds. We continue to consolidate our position in the online dating market and extend our business model by adding social entertainment. I am looking forward to working with our new colleagues to solidify our international footprint.”

The transaction, which is expected to close in the 2nd half of 2020, is subject to approval by The Meet Group’s stockholders, along with the satisfaction of customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, including the expiration or early termination of the applicable waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, antitrust approvals in Germany and Austria as well as approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. The Meet Group expects to hold a special meeting of its stockholders to consider and vote on the transaction as soon as feasible after the mailing of the proxy statement to shareholders.

The Meet Group plans to release its fourth quarter fiscal year 2019 results before market open on March 11, 2020. In light of the pending transaction announced today, the company will not hold a corresponding conference call.

Representation

BofA Securities is acting as financial advisor to The Meet Group, and Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP is acting as legal counsel.

About The Meet Group

The Meet Group (NASDAQ: MEET) is a leading provider of interactive livestreaming solutions designed to meet the universal need for human connection. Our ecosystem of livestreaming apps enables users around the world to interact through one-to-many livestreaming broadcasts and text-based conversations. Our top apps, MeetMe®, LOVOO®, Skout®, Tagged® and Growlr®, deliver live interactions and meaningful connections to millions of users daily. Headquartered in New Hope, PA, we have offices in Philadelphia, San Francisco, Dresden, and Berlin. The Meet Group is committed to safety. You can find a description of current safety practices here: https://www.themeetgroup.com/safety-practices/. For more information, visit themeetgroup.com, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

About ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE

ProSiebenSat.1 combines leading entertainment brands with a successful production business and a strongly growing commerce portfolio and is thus one of the most diversified media companies in Europe. We want to offer great entertainment – whenever, wherever and on any device. We can address over 45 million TV households in Germany, Austria and Switzerland with our 15 free and pay TV channels. At the same time, we reach around 36 million unique users every month with online offerings marketed by ProSiebenSat.1. Successful formats like “The Masked Singer”, “Germany’s Next Topmodel”, and “Beat the Channel” as well as top-notch stars like Heidi Klum, or Dwayne Johnson belong to our family. Shows like “Bosch”, “Married at First Sight”, or “Queen of Drags” are created within our production and distribution business Red Arrow Studios. Our global digital studio Studio71 achieves over 9.9 billion monthly video views and operates more than 1,400 web channels. Our NuCom Group is a rapidly growing e-commerce player with leading portfolio companies that offer online price comparison, matchmaking, experiences as well as beauty & lifestyle. ProSiebenSat.1 are more than 7,000 passionate creators that love to entertain and delight our viewers and consumers each day.

About General Atlantic

General Atlantic is a leading global growth equity firm providing capital and strategic support for growth companies. Established in 1980, General Atlantic combines a collaborative global approach, sector specific expertise, a long-term investment horizon and a deep understanding of growth drivers to partner with great entrepreneurs and management teams to build exceptional businesses worldwide. General Atlantic has more than 150 investment professionals based in New York, Amsterdam, Beijing, Greenwich, Hong Kong, Jakarta, London, Mexico City, Mumbai, Munich, Palo Alto, São Paulo, Shanghai, and Singapore. For more information on General Atlantic, please visit the website: www.generalatlantic.com.

About NuCom Group

NuCom Group is the growth partner for consumer internet companies. We create global category leaders and accelerate the growth of our portfolio companies by adding marketing power, operational expertise and clear buy-and-build strategies. Thereby we combine the strengths of our shareholders in a “best of both worlds” approach, featuring the reach, know-how and resources from the ProSiebenSat.1 Group and the expertise and firepower of General Atlantic, a leading global growth equity investor. We focus on B2C asset light business models with a clear USP and differentiation. Currently our portfolio is divided in four verticals: consumer advice, matchmaking, experience and gift vouchers and beauty and lifestyle.
https://www.nucom.group/

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