Status:  Clearance

Acquirer:  ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE (Germany) and General Atlantic Coöperatief U.A. (The Netherlands)

Acquired:  The Meet Group, Inc. (US)

Value:   $500 million (Approx.)

Industry:  Software; Information Services

UPDATE:  “The parties submitted the draft joint voluntary notice to CFIUS on March 19, 2020.”  (The Meet Group , Inc., Schedule 14A, Apr. 22, 2020, SEC Filing.)  On September 4, 2020, The Meet Group, Inc., “announced the completion of its previously announced acquisition by the parent company of eharmony.”  (Press Release, The Meet Group, Inc., Form 8-K, Sept. 4, 2020, SEC Filing.)

Posted April 10, 2020

Status: Upcoming/New Filing

On March 5, 2020, The Meet Group, Inc., a US company that operates interactive livestreaming solutions designed for human connection (top apps include MeetMe®, LOVOO®, Skout®, Tagged® and Growlr®), announced it had entered into a merger agreement to be acquired by ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE and General Atlantic Coöperatief U.A.’s joint company NCG NuCom Group SE, a German based European stock corporation, through eHarmony Holding, Inc., a subsidiary of NCG NuCom Group SE’s platform company Parship Group GmbH.  (See The Meet Group, Inc., Form 8-K, Mar. 5, 2020, SEC Filing; see also Press Release, The Meet Group, Inc., Form 8-K, Ex-99.1, Mar. 5, 2020). In 2018, publicly traded ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE announced that General Atlantic Coöperatief U.A. acquired 25.1% of the shares of NCG NuCom Group SE.  (See ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE Press Release, “ProSiebenSat. 1 wins General Atlantic as partner for its Commerce unit NuCom Group,” Feb. 22, 2018.)  The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2020. (See Press Release, The Meet Group, Inc., Form 8-K, Ex-99.1, Mar. 5, 2020).  CFIUS approval is a condition of the transaction, however, it is not necessary if “CFIUS is not able to conclude action . . . on the basis of a declaration, but has not requested the submission of a joint voluntary notice; and, [eHarmony Holding, Inc.,] has determined not to submit a joint voluntary notice with CFIUS pursuant to Section 721 . . .”  (See Agreement and Plan of Merger, §8.01(d), The Meet Group , Inc., Form 8-K, Ex-2.1, Mar. 5, 2020.)

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