It seems that Ancestry.com is still talking with potential buyers, even after asking for a higher bidding price just a few days ago. Nothing is set in stone, as of yet, and no final decision has been made. However, it does seem that Ancestry.com is still interested in going through with a sale of itself.
Right now, Ancestry.com is a public company. According to Investopedia, a public company is one that “has issued securities through an initial public offering (IPO), and is traded on at least one stock exchange or in the over the counter market”.
In other words, this is a company where people can purchase shares of the company by buying stock. People can keep track of how well the company is doing based on the current price of the stock. This is a simplified explanation.
A private company has a private ownership. Its stock is not traded on any stock exchange or in the over the counter market. The company may sell shares of stock. However, since the private company doesn’t need to meet the requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission, it means that its stock is less liquid, and the values are harder to determine.
So far, we know that in June of 2012, Ancestry.com has hired Qatalyst Partners to conduct talks with potential buyers. In July of 2012, after much speculation about who might be interested in buying Ancestry.com, it seemed that TPG Capital LP, Permira Advisers LLP, and Providence Equity Partnemrs Inc. were among the possible buyers. They were given until “early August” of 2012 to give their final bids.
After that, it seems that Ancestry.com asked buyers to increase their bids. This happened in late August of 2012. It appears that Ancestry.com got a bid of $35.00 a share, and turned it down. Talks were still ongoing.
Now, there is an update to the story. According to Reuters, three companies are currently still interested in bidding for Ancestry.com. Those companies are Hellman & Freedman LLC, Permira Advisers LLP, and TPG Capital LP. The talks are private. There is potential that Ancestry.com would make a decision by the end of September, but this is not a certainty.
Hellman & Freedman LLC is a private equity investment firm. Its objective is “to invest long-term equity capital to support the strategic and financial objectives of outstanding management teams operating businesses with defensible positions in growing markets”.
Permira Advisers LLP has been focused on privatequity investing since 1985. The company makes “long-term investments in companies with the ambition of transforming their performance and driving sustainable growth”.
TPG Capital LP is “a leading global private investment firm”. The company “specializes in recognizing value – or the potential for value – where others do not”.
Image by DonkeyHotey on Flickr