ITV loses £150 million on Friends Reunited sale

 

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By Stuart Turton

Posted on 6 Aug 2009 at 09:56

ITV has sold Friends Reunited to the makers of the Beano for £25 million.

The social-networking site has been picked up by Brightsolid Limited, a subsidiary of DC Thomson which publishes comics including the Beano.

The £25 million price tag represents a sizeable loss for ITV, which paid £120 million for the site back in 2005, followed by a further £55 million a year later.

However, that was back when Friends Reunited was the darling of the social-networking circuit. It has since been overshadowed by Facebook and MySpace and has been hit hard by the advertising slowdown.

Earlier reports suggested ITV was willing to sell the site for as little as £15 million.

The sale comes as ITV announces its half-year results, with a £105 million loss and a 15% fall in ad revenues the principal talking points.

The company did not disclose how its hunt for a new chief executive was progressing. Current CEO Michael Grade will step down at the end of 2009, with Apple's European vice president Pascal Cagni the hot tip to replace him.