Israel’s genealogical survey service MyHeritage has acquired a 90.91% stake in the French company Filae. The price was more than $35 million. Filae is a family history service.
The news comes just six months after MyHeritage was itself sold to American private equity giant Francisco Partners for $600 million. The acquisition of Filae is now the twelfth such acquisition made by MyHeritage. The company states that the acquisition further reinforces MyHeritage’s position as the leading family history service in Europe.
Founded in 1994, formerly known as NotreFamille.com and Genealogie.com and renamed Filae.com in 2016, Filae makes genealogical research easier and more accessible through new technologies and exclusive collections of digitized and transcribed historical records from France.
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Founded in 2003, MyHeritage offers a leading family history platform. Powered by its own proprietary technologies, MyHeritage is currently used by 90 million registered users worldwide and is available in 42 languages. MyHeritage users have collectively created tens of millions of family trees, and the platform is home to a vast collection of nearly 14 billion historical records. The platform’s many features include world-class tools that are based on artificial intelligence.
Following the acquisition, the exclusive historical record collections housed on Filae will be made accessible to MyHeritage users. MyHeritage’s resources and technologies will enable Filae to accelerate the digitization and indexing of additional historical record collections, which will be made accessible to users of both platforms.
Filae will remain a French company based in Paris and will continue to operate autonomously. Filae’s founder, Toussaint Roze, will continue to manage the company and its operations will continue uninterrupted. The scope of services available to current subscribers on Filae will remain unchanged and special benefits will soon be introduced to its members.
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We’re excited to announce that MyHeritage will acquire @filaecom We’re looking forward to opening up new horizons for those with roots in France. Read more: https://t.co/r1TTgzAi1f
— MyHeritage (@MyHeritage) August 2, 2021
“As we did when we acquired Geni.com eight years ago, our plan is to maintain Filae’s independence and existing team, and strengthen it,” said Gilad Japhet, Founder and CEO of MyHeritage. “French genealogists have much to gain from this combination, which brings together MyHeritage’s resources, its powerful matching technologies, and Filae’s extensive historical archives and its expertise in French genealogy. The acquisition of Filae is a significant step for MyHeritage that builds on a longstanding relationship of trust and mutual respect.”
“We sought to accelerate our growth and recognized the incredible opportunity before us,” said Toussaint Roze, Founder and CEO of Filae. “MyHeritage has unparalleled experience, technological expertise, and an excellent reputation, and we are confident that by combining our respective strengths, Filae will experience strong growth that will enrich the family history resources for anyone of French descent.”