- Deal is joint-biggest global domain name sale in 2010
A UK price comparison company announced today that it has bought the domain name Top10.com from Idealab, the U.S-based company founded by Bill Gross and behind many successful technology companies including Picasa and GoTo.com. The cash and equity deal values the domain name at over $1m, making it one of the most expensive domain purchases ever by a UK company, and the company will be rebranded as Top10.com Media Ltd.
Top10.com has been purchased by the team behind Top 10 Broadband and Top 10 Mobile Phones, together the UK’s most popular comparison sites in the telecoms sector. As part of the deal, which gives Idealab a 7% share in the company, Bill Gross will join the advisory board.
Prior to today’s rebranding, Top 10 Broadband and Top 10 Mobile Phones attracted a combined 1.5 million UK users a month. Both sites have been amalgamated and are being re-launched under the Top10.com umbrella as of today (March 30).
Tom Leathes, co-founder and director at Top10.com, said, “Idealab’s involvement in our business is a great endorsement of our company’s success to date, and will provide a real boost to our plans ahead for Top10.com. While we have doubled in size every year since we started in 2006, Idealab’s involvement will help us move to the next level as a business. We want to expand our user-focused approach to comparison into some exciting new products and the global marketplace.”
“With Top10.com, we aim to reinvent the way people find and compare products, and we will be working with Bill and the Idealab team to bring this vision to fruition in 2010 and beyond,” Leathes continues.
Bill Gross, CEO of Idealab, said: “The Top 10 team has already been highly successful and consistently profitable and there is amazing potential for future growth. We think that the price comparison sector is ripe for change, and in need of innovation.”
Top 10 Broadband and Top 10 Mobile Phones turned over more than £9m in FY 2009. The company, founded in 2006, currently employs 20 staff in its Central London offices. The firm is privately owned by its four co-founders, Tom Leathes, Harry Jones, Alex Buttle, and Andrew Cartland.
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Notes to Editors:
Top10.com Media Ltd
Top10.com (formerly Top 10 Broadband and Top 10 Mobile Phones) is the UK’s most popular comparison site aimed at the broadband and mobile sector with over 1.5 million consumers using the site every month.
Top10.com is dedicated to providing the best offers to help people get connected. The award-winning service offers an unrivalled consumer experience, combining cutting-edge design, innovative tools and exciting new ways for users to interact. Alongside all the latest deals and offers, Top10.com includes up-to-date news, independent guides, and expert reviews.
Top10.com Media Ltd is a privately held company headquartered in London, UK.
About Idealab
Idealab's mission is to create and operate pioneering technology companies. Founded in 1996 by entrepreneur Bill Gross, Idealab provides a broad range of operational support to its companies, allowing the operating company management teams to focus on getting to market quickly and cost effectively and to take advantage of the serial start-up experience of the Idealab team. Bill Gross and Idealab have founded more than 75 companies including eSolar, Inc., Energy Innovations, Overture Services, Inc., CitySearch, Picasa and Internet Brands. Current operating companies are providing innovative technology solutions in industries such as software, search, robotics and alternative energy fields. Additional information may be found at www.idealab.com.
Contact:
Jeff Romeo
Top10.com Media Ltd
jeff@top10.com
020 3178 5700
Pete Marcus
Citigate Dewe Rogerson
Peter.marcus@citigatedr.co.uk
020 7282 2815
- Alex Buttle 30-03-2010
