US-based genealogy site Ancestry.com has bought Archives.com, a family history website, for approximately $100m.
The deal will see Ancestry.com bulk up its family history category for customers, while staffing up with an additional team of engineers, digital marketers, and family history experts.
Archives.com is owned and operated by Inflection LLC, a Silicon Valley-based technology company.
Since Archives.com’s launch in January 2010, the site has grown to more than 380,000 paying subscribers who pay approximately $39.95 a year.
Archives.com offers access to over 2.1 billion historical records, including birth records, obituaries, immigration and passenger lists, historical newspapers, and US and UK Censuses.
“Archives.com has built a fantastic and fast-growing business that we think is highly complementary to Ancestry.com’s online family history offering,” said Tim Sullivan, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ancestry.com. “We love their focus on making family history simple and affordable, and we are excited to help the talented Archives.com team continue to grow alongside Ancestry.com, Fold3.com, and Family Tree Maker.”
“Family history remains a dynamic and growing online category,” added Sullivan. “Archives.com’s focus is consistent with our mission to help everyone discover, preserve and share their family history, which will help continue our efforts in delivering amazing discoveries to an even broader audience.”
Over the past two years, Archives.com has partnered with multiple well-known family history organizations that have helped build out Archives.com robust collection of family history records.
Most recently, Archives.com partnered with the U.S. National Archives to provide free digital access to the recently released 1940 U.S. Federal Census.
“We are proud of the experience we’ve built with Archives.com and believe strongly in its future potential,” said Matthew Monahan, CEO and Co-Founder of Inflection. “Combining with Ancestry.com positions Archives.com to best capitalize on that potential, pairing complementary visions of the marketplace and the opportunity. We’ve long admired Ancestry.com’s content and technology and the innovations that the Ancestry.com team continues to bring to market. We’re excited to see how this transaction expands the reach of family history to an even larger audience.”
Upon completion of the transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, including expiration of the HSR waiting period, Ancestry.com will continue to operate Archives.com separately retaining its brand and website. Multiple Inflection employees, including key product and engineering executives are expected to join the Ancestry.com team.
wwwAncestry.com
www.Archives.com