Online Personals Watch: News on the Online Dating Industry and Business

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Feb 27, 2019 | Permalink | Comments (0)

China's Tinder Embraces AI

SCMP - July 11 - AI will be a key focus for Tantan this year, said CEO Yu Wang. The technology will be used to help the company accurately identify new users, boost the accuracy of advertising, as well as contributing to growth in terms of user numbers and revenues, he said. Mobile dating is a popular trend in China where the number of smartphones outstripped the country's 1.4B population. Even WeChat, the country's most popular messaging app owned by Tencent, whose active monthly users have topped nearly 1B, offers apps such as Shake and Drifting Bottle that give its users more opportunities to get in touch with potential dates. Momo, another popular location-based hook-up app in China, acquired Tantan in February for $760M. Unlike Momo and Tantan, which are mostly favoured by younger users who are more inclined to have casual dates, a number of Chinese apps, such as Jiayuan and Baihe, specifically target those looking for a life-long partner. Revenue generated by China's online dating industry reached 4B yuan ($603M) in 2017, according to iResearch.

by Li Tao & Iris Deng
See full article at SCMP

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by Donny Kwok
See full article at Deal Street Asia

Jul 16, 2018 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Fosun Buys Matchmaking Service Provider From Chairman For $603M

DEAL STREET ASIA - July 5 - Fosun International Ltd said it would buy 69% of match-making and dating service provider Baihe Jiayuan Network Group from Chairman Guo Guangchang for 4B yuan ($603.4M) cash. Baihe Jiayuan has ~310M registered users and ~200 offline service centres covering 75 Chinese cities. In May, Fosun's tourism arm said it was hunting for more overseas deals to grow its leisure vacation business.

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This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.

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Jul 06, 2018 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Chinese Singles Economy

THE STAR - June 29 - ~200M Chinese, or 14% of China's population, are single, representing a huge market for online dating apps and matchmaking services. Baihe and its sister company Jiayuan face stiff competition from apps such as Zhenai. Together, the three apps boast market shares of ~65%. They became market leaders through innovation. They enable young singles to connect via live streaming, games, anonymous telephone chats and instant messaging widgets. White-collar professionals in first- and second-tier cities make up ~90% of dating app consumers, according to a latest report by iResearch. An industry report predicted that the total market revenue of online dating services will exceed RM28B ($4.2B) by 2025.

by Cheng Yu
See full article at The Star

by Christopher Udemans
See full article at Technode

Jul 04, 2018 | Permalink | Comments (0)

China's 21st Richest Person To Purchase 70% Of Baihe

TECHNODE - May 4 - Fosun International chairman and business magnate Guo Guangchang plans to purchase a majority stake in marriage and dating site Baihe.com for just under RMB 4B ($630M). Baihe.com's shareholders entered into an agreement with Yuanhong Investment to sell 869M shares at a price of RMB 4.6 ($0.72) per share. Guo controls 100% of Yuanhong, which will make him a controlling shareholder of Baihe.com when the deal goes through. There has been no indication as to when the purchase will be concluded. In Dec 2015 Baihe acquired rival dating and marriage platform Jiayuan for $250M. The company then reorganized to become the Baihe Jiayaun Network Group in September 2017.

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by Christopher Udemans
See full article at Technode

May 06, 2018 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Technology Is Changing How China's Youth Find Love

TECHNODE.COM - Apr 11 - From Tinder-like Tantan to Momo, to marriage-focussed Baihe, tech companies are taking advantage of increasingly independent young adults. Just under half of China's 1.4B people fall between the ages of 25 and 54 years old. Most are men. Within this total, 200M are unmarried. One study shows that 54M people made use of online dating services in 2016, a number that is expected to increase by 24M, or 45%, by 2022. Baihe was founded in 2005 and claims to have ~100M users. Baihe-owned Jiayuan.com also focuses on marriage-related services. It claims to have ~170M users and operates offline stores in 71 cities. Tantan and Momo are designed for more casual dating. In 2013, the total revenue for the sector was RMB 1.93B. This more than doubled to RMB 4B at the end of 2017 and is expected to reach RMB 5B by 2020. According to researchers, online dating can also have a profound effect on marriage diversity. According to the Center for China and Globalization, the number of foreigners increased by 50% between 2000 and 2013. Additionally, over 1500 foreigners were granted green cards in 2016, a 160% YOY increase. In the same year, the number of cross-cultural marriages swelled by 2.5% in Shanghai.

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Apr 11, 2018 | Permalink | Comments (0)

PAG Buys Controlling Stake In Zhenai.com

SCMP - Nov 21 - PAG Asia Capital, one of Asia's largest investment firms, has closed a deal to acquire a controlling stake in Zhenai.com, China's largest online matchmaking and dating service provider. The transaction size was not disclosed. Founded in 2005 by Li Song, a former Morgan Stanley executive director, Zhenai.com now boasts ~140M registered users. It is expected to generate revenues of ~1.6B yuan and a net profit of ~200M yuan ($30M) in 2017, according to the company. This compared to the 51.4M yuan ($7.7M) in 2015 net profit of Jiayuan.com, a major rival of Zhenai. Jiayuan was bought by Baihe.com, another matchmaking website last year, resulting in the country's matchmaking business being mainly split among the three companies.

by Jane Li
See full article at SCMP

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by Chen Na
See full article at Sixth Tone

Nov 21, 2017 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Chinese Government Tells Dating Websites To Vet Users

SIXTH TONE - Sep 19 - The Communist Youth League, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and the National Health and Family Planning Commission issued a joint directive on Monday requiring dating sites to keep a record of their users' real identities. The regulation came nearly two weeks after Jiayuan.com fell under scrutiny for the suicide of tech entrepreneur Su Xiangmao. The 37-year-old founder of the Skype-like app WePhone jumped to his death from his Beijing apartment building earlier this month. In a suicide note he posted online, Su accused his ex-wife, Zhai Xinxin, whom he met through Jiayuan.com, of driving him to despair and desperation.

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Sep 20, 2017 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Baihe's Shares Fall After WePhone Founder's Suicide

SCMP - Sep 13 - The death of Su Xiangmao, 37, sparked online debate about whether dating sites are accountable for verifying users' personal data. Shares of Baihe.com plunged by almost half after its dating site Jiayuan.com was accused of failing to verify personal information about a woman who allegedly drove her ex-husband, a successful technology entrepreneur, to suicide. The stock traded as low as 3.6 yuan, down 48%, on the National Equities Exchange and Quotations, China's over-the-counter stock market for start-ups. It later recovered some ground, closing 19% lower at 5.68 yuan.

by Laura He
See full article at SCMP

Sep 14, 2017 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Entrepreneur's Death Highlights Flaws Of China's Dating Site Jiayuan.com

ECNS - Sep 13 - Su Xiangmao killed himself Thursday in Beijing after receiving repeated threats from his ex-wife, Zhai Xinxin, who was allegedly demanding from him ~$1.5M and properties from their one-month marriage. The couple met on March 30 on jiayuan.com, got married on June 7 and got a divorce on July 18. Su was the founder of WePhone, an international long-distance call app. It is about to stop operation, a pop-up news on the app reads. People are questioning whether the dating site should be somehow liable for the tragedy. The site said it will cooperate in an ongoing investigation by police.

See full article at ECNS

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Sep 13, 2017 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Jiayuan.com Shareholders Approved Merger With Baihe Subsidiaries

PR NEWSWIRE - Dec 28 - Jiayuan.com shareholders voted overwhelmingly in favor of the merger with LoveWorld and FutureWorld. Of the 56.7% of ordinary shares voted, 97.5% backed the deal, expected to close in Q1.

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Dec 30, 2015 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Heng Ren Investments Urges Jiayuan.com To Reveal All Bids To Shareholders

STREET INSIDER - Dec 9 - On Dec 7, an agreement was announced between Baihe and Jiayuan.com to buy out shareholders at $7.56 per share, an increase from the previous bid of $7.20 from Vast Profit of Hong Kong. Heng Ren Investments believes this is a positive step in the right direction, but the bid is still 50% below full and fair value of $11.74 per share. Jiayuan.com has admitted it has received multiple buyout bids. Heng Ren urges Jiayuan to disclose to shareholders all the bids it has received.

The full article was originally published at Street Insider, but is no longer available.

by Austen Hufford
See full article at WSJ

Dec 10, 2015 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Baihe To Buy Chinese Dating Site Jiayuan

WSJ - Dec 7 - Jiayuan.com International, the largest online dating platform in China, agreed to be bought by Baihe for $7.56 per share in a deal that values the company at ~$250M. The deal is expected to close in Q1 of 2016. Jiayuan executive Linguang Wu will become co-executive of the new company, which will be changing its name.

This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.

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See full article at PRNewswire

Dec 07, 2015 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Jiayuan Q3 2015 Financial Results: Net Income Up ~400%

PRNEWSWIRE - Nov 25 - Q3 revenue was $28.7M, up 13% YOY. Net income was $2.3M, a YOY increase of 413.6%. The number of paying users was 1,405,426, compared to 1,522,838 in Q3 2014.

Nov 26, 2015 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Match Must Use Size To Overcome Challenges Facing Public Dating Services

DEAL REPORTER - Aug 24 - OPW - Aug 24 - As The Match Group moves toward an IPO, it must use its size advantage to overcome the difficulties that have plagued other dating companies that have gone public. FriendFinder traded on NASDAQ and was delisted in 2013 for failing to trade above the USD 1 level. Zoosk filed for an IPO in 2014, intending to raise more than USD 100m, but withdrew the application citing unfavorable market conditions. In the past 2 years, shares of Snap Interactive have not been above the USD 1 mark with stock plunging 85%, and Spark Networks has seen its stock decline 60%, to USD 3.11. Chinese dating firm Jiayuan International has seen its US-listed stock rise 22% in the last year, however, their success is partly a by-product of China's booming economy. "Match's size will be an advantage over other publicly traded dating entities," said Mark Brooks, an industry consultant with Courtland Brooks. Its scale and brand awareness means it probably pays much less to acquire new users. “This is very clearly a game of size,” Brooks asserted, adding that Match.com does not have to pay search giant Google for every new member because it has built a brand through time, helped by TV and radio advertising.

by David B. Wilkerson & Marina Temkin & Louise Bleakley
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See full article at PR Newswire

Aug 26, 2015 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Jiayuan Q2 Results: Operating Profit Up 12%

PR NEWSWIRE - Aug 20 - Q2 revenue was $29M, up 23% YOY. Operating income was $1.4M, 12% increase YOY. The number of average monthly paying user was 1,487,681, compared with 1,542,062 in Q2 2014. Online services contributed $18.2M, or 62.8% of net revenues.

by Doug Young
See full article at Forbes

Aug 21, 2015 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Jiayuan Committed To Buyout

FORBES - July 13 - Jiayuan is still committed to the privatization process that could end with its departure from New York and re-listing of its shares in its home China market. The reason is that investors are far more likely to get excited about a stock when they’re familiar with its name and business model, giving it a better valuation than it would get from less familiar buyers in overseas markets. That's why most companies choose to make their primary listings in their home stock markets.

See full article at PR Newswire

Jul 14, 2015 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Jiayuan.com Received A New Proposal From Vast Profit

PR NEWSWIRE - June 8 - Jiayuan.com received a new letter from Vast Profit Holdings Limited that proposes a "going-private" transaction involving the acquisition of all of the outstanding ordinary shares for $4.80. Vast Profit previously offered $3.58 per share.

See full article at Jiayuan website

Jun 11, 2015 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Jiayuan Q1 2015 Financial Results - Revenue Up 26%

PR NEWSWIRE - June 8 - Net revenues were $27.3M, up 26% YOY due to a rapid expansion of personalized matchmaking services . Net loss was $1.6M, a YOY improvement of 27%. Jiayuan's personalized matchmaking business continued its growth, increasing 179% YOY to $10M.

by Paul Bischoff
See full article at TechInAsia

Jun 08, 2015 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Chinese Face Recognition Startup Face++ Raised $25M

TECHINASIA - May 14 - Face++, a face recognition tech startup from Beijing, raised an additional $25M as part of its series B round. This brings the company’s series B to $47M. Face++ makes a cloud-based API and an SDK so developers can incorporate face recognition into their own apps. The technology is being used by ~30K developers and several large firms including Jiayuan. Users could upload a photo of someone they thought was beautiful, and Jiayuan would use Face++ to find a match on the site with a similar face.