eHarmony, a Pasadena, California-based online matchmaking business, is interested in buying online content companies as it builds toward an initial public offering, chief executive Gregory Waldorf said.
"I have a clear belief eHarmony will be a public company one day," he said. eHarmony has passed the minimum requirements to go public, but it has no capital needs at present, he said.
Waldorf said eHarmony is "very profitable" and generated USD 200m in 2007. The management team is IPO-ready and the business has "significant" acquisition capability, he said.
Since 2006, eHarmony has grown its presence internationally and diversified with a publishing group. The company is interested in acquiring content companies for this part of the business, he said. An example of this might be a site about the best place to go for a first date, he said. eHarmony also plans to broaden its focus to include issues around other meaningful relationships, such as between friends and family members.
Waldorf said while eHarmony is compared with Yahoo Personals and Match.com, it tends to focus more on long-term and marital relationships. True.com, another match-making website that was listed as a target for eHarmony in a previous report, would not be a good fit for eHarmony, he said. True.com's advertising base is "not eHarmony's type", being directed at less serious relationships, he said.
Internet dating industry consultant Mark Brooks said Mary.com of Clearwater Florida could be an attractive target. eHarmony declined to comment specifically on targets.
eHarmony, whose founder Dr. Neil Clark Warren is an Evangelical Christian, was sued in mid-2007 by a homosexual couple claiming the company is in violation of a California state law which bans discrimination based on sexual orientation because it does not offer matchmaking services to homosexual couples.
Asked whether eHarmony might expand to allow male seeking male, or female seeking female partners, Waldorf did not answer directly, saying the content is for anybody who would find it useful.
Brooks said it is possible eHarmony fears a public reception would be tainted by its association with social networking businesses, which have not been as financially successful as some hoped. Brooks said it may be waiting for people to forget about Chemistry.com's recent advertising campaign, which invited homosexuals "rejected" by the eHarmony site to join its service.
The decision not to go public before now has been based on internal considerations rather than a weak public market, Waldorf said. "The market is generally open for strong companies," he said. He declined to elaborate on the internal criteria necessary to go public.
eHarmony receives "a lot" of approaches from interested suitors but has a strong desire to remain independent, he said.
eHarmony works with law firm Orrick Herrington and accounting firm Ernst &Young.
By Louise Bleakley in San Francisco
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