Fantastic news today for the Spreets team, for Yahoo!7, for the Australian technology community and of course the Pollenizer team. Read below for the story, and a few notes from us at the bottom.
Yahoo!7 acquires Spreets – leading Australian and New Zealand online Group Buying
company
SYDNEY, Australia, 20 January, 2011 – Online media company Yahoo!7 today announced it has acquired leading Australian online Group Buying site, Spreets Pty Ltd, including its New Zealand operations.
Spreets (spreets.com.au and spreets.co.nz) was the first Group Buying site in ANZ having been in operation for almost a year with 500,000 members and more than 274,000 vouchers purchased since inception.
The Yahoo!7 business delivers a new audience to the Spreets site through distribution on the Yahoo!7 Network as well as access to the benefits provided in Australia and New Zealand through its joint venture partners Yahoo! Inc. and the Seven Media Group, including marketing and promotions.
The acquisition helps Yahoo!7 to deliver on its Local and Social strategies as well as providing further diversification of revenue streams outside of display advertising.
“After carefully reviewing the market it was clear that Spreets is a market-leader in what is becoming a highly competitive and fast growing market. The Spreets management team in Dean McEvoy and Justus Hammer come with strong expertise and experience in the Australian Group Buying market,” said Rohan Lund CEO of Yahoo!7.
“At its core Spreets is about leveraging insights to deliver the best local deals through an online social experience, and this maps perfectly to the Yahoo!7 Local and Social strategies. The acquisition of Spreets means we can bring the best of Yahoo!7 to grow the business even further,” he said.
According to Dean McEvoy, CEO of Spreets, the Group Buying model has rapidly evolved over the past year delivering cost-effective marketing to small businesses and addressing an unmet and growing demand from consumers for online coupon deals.
“Australians and Kiwis love an amazing deal and Spreets has seen significant growth delivering over $40 million in savings to consumers over the past year. We’re proud to be an Australian born company leading the market in this rapidly evolving space,” he said “We’re thrilled with the acquisition by Yahoo!7 as we see the huge potential that one of Australia’s leading online media companies, which has huge momentum in the market, will bring to the Spreets business.”
The financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Media Contacts:
Amanda Millar
Trade Marketing and Communications Mgr Yahoo!7
Tel: 8288 4758
Mob: 0407 454 229
Email: millaram@yahoo-inc.com
About Yahoo!7
Yahoo!7 (yahoo7.com.au) is one of the most comprehensive and engaging online destinations for Australian consumers and advertisers. Formed as a 50-50 partnership between the Seven Network Limited (ASX: SEV) and Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO), Yahoo!7 brings together the successful Australian internet business, Yahoo! Australia & NZ, and the online assets and television and magazine content of the Seven Network, one of Australia’s leading media companies. The company also combines the strengths of Yahoo! search and communications capabilities and its global internet network, with Seven’s rich media and entertainment content and marketing capabilities..
/media release
Congrats to Dean, Justus and the hard working Spreets team for really driving hard at this incredible new space for the last twelve months. Big congratulations also to the Pollenizer team, particularly Oliver, Jon, Fleur and Phil, for their enormous contribution throughout the year. A massive effort and a job well done.
Today’s deal in Sydney – $90 for $181 at Jordons Seafood Restaurant.
Tomorrows deal? Sign up!
News Coverage
Yahoo!7 buys online deals site Spreets – Sky News Australia
Yahoo!7 buys only deal site Spreets – The Age
Yahoo!7 buys only deal site Spreets – Australian Financial Review
Yahoo!7 buys only voucher site Spreets – news.com.au
Yahoo!7 acquires Spreets in $40m Deal – AdNews
Yahoo!7 buys group buying site for $40m – B&T
Yahoo!7 buys Spreets for $40m – mUmBRELLA
Yahoo!7 buys group buying site Spreets – iTWire
Yahoo!7 buys Spreets for $40m – Delimiter
Yahoo!7 snaps up Spreets for $40m – ZDNet
Spreets sold for $40 million in the biggest and fastest group buying deal of the year so far – Anthill Online
Yahoo!7 invests in retail – Inside Retailing
Yahoo!7 acquire Spreets for $40m – Startup Smart
brandsExclusive Congratulates Spreets and Yahoo!7 – brandsExclusive
Spreets acquired by Yahoo!7 for $40 million – Dynamic Business
😀 elijah