U.K. and Ireland - OT: moneysavingexpert.com sold for £87 million

Gulp! Just heard on the radio that Martin Lewis is selling moneysavingexpert.com to moneysupermarket.com for up to £87 million.

MSE:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/site/2012/06/moneysavingexpertcom-to-join-the-moneysupermarketcom-group

Martin Lewis:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/site/2012/06/martin-lewis-on-moneysavingexpertcom-joining-the-moneysupermarket-group

LSE announcement:
http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-detail.html?announcementId=

I'd guessed that ML's perambulations through the media had added value to the site, but the amount if realised is astonishing.

I guess it is turning over 20-25 million per year?

In the grand scheme of things it is not really alot of revenue. I guess it is very UK centric hence the low buy price/revenue.

Good for him. I used to use MSE quite a lot during a couple of personal banking crises, and found Martin and other contributors a priceless source of information. A bit like FT, but without the humour!!

Now I can't even remember my user-name over there :(

He won't need to save much money in future.

Got a bit distant from his public there by the sounds.

Also please note

Q. £10 million is going to charity – which charities?
As soon as the deal completes, I plan to donate £1 million straight to Citizens Advice, which desperately needs it for debt advice as, shamefully, its public funding has been cut (as you can't talk about these deals before they're announced, I've not been able to speak to Citizens Advice yet).

With the rest of the funds allocated to charity, there are so many good causes, so I want time to think about where the donations can do the most good, and not splurge them all at once. So I will put donations into a Charities Aid Foundation trust, which locks it away so it can only be used to give to official charities and be put to good use over the coming years.

Fair play to him - hit upon the right idea at the right time. I'm guessing a lot of his readership will feel 'deserted' now!

It has proved useful in the past, I can't even remember my username. But pride of place is a message from the man himself telling me i'm not welcome on the board after I had a massive pop at them for producing a a guide on 'how to get free airline upgrades' :D.

OK, we can all do our best to maximise our chances of getting upgraded (Exec Club for starters) - but the way the guide was phrased and for the audience, it almost seemed to guarantee an upgrade for anyone who flew, which I criticised for producing unrealistic expectations, and probably upsetting a fair few people who will get an unequivical 'no' at check-in when they presumed it would be guaranteed....

the consumers friend, supporting you against greedy companies, was all along, a greedy individual!

Shock, horror

MME, not MSE.

Well giving a vast amount like that to charity is a really good thing to do and deserves a big ^

I guess it is turning over 20-25 million per year?

In the grand scheme of things it is not really alot of revenue. I guess it is very UK centric hence the low buy price/revenue.

Read the release from moneysupermarket:

Revenue £15m
Profit before tax and interest £12m (so 7 x EBIT)
% of revenue that ALREADY comes from moneysupermarket: 59% :eek:

No wonder he says "I didn't shop the business around, I went straight to them as they were the obvious partner" :D

Given the profitability of the company already, he was clearly raking it in whether or not he sold. And I rate him, I use the site (despite being a finance professional myself). How good is it? Well, last year he flagged an investment loophole which I followed and is making me £30,000 gross per year this year and for the next 2-3 years as well. He also showed how to restructure your pension to drastically reduce the management fee whilst keeping the pension identical to how it was, which is saving me £500 net per year for the rest of my life.

the consumers friend, supporting you against greedy companies, was all along, a greedy individual!

Shock, horror

MME, not MSE.On what basis could you possibly call him greedy? Successful, but not greedy.

He was already making, as I mentioned above, £12m per year from the site.

Geoggy, what is the difference between Lewis making £12m per year (and that was increasing by £2m per year) forever, which presumably you are happy with, compared to him getting a one-off £87m? I don't understand.

He's not even walking away for at least 3 years, and he would have earned (if he hadn't sold out) £40m over those 3 years anyway given the current level of profits. The reason to sell is that the sale attracts an 18% capital gains tax rate whilst salary is 45% plus NI.

Facebook: 901 million active users, valuation at IPO = USD 104 billion = USD 115 per user = USD 38 per share

MSE: 10 million active users, valuation at sale = GBP 87 million = USD 130 million = USD 13 per user

So if Facebook obtains the same value per user as MSE the share price of Facebook would be USD 4.3 per share. :eek:

So if Facebook obtains the same value per user as MSE the share price of Facebook would be USD 4.3 per share.Isn't that where it's heading?

On what basis could you possibly call him greedy? Successful, but not greedy.

Indeed. He's done very well and as Raffles notes the site has genuinely unearthed a lot of value for a lot of people.

Facebook: 901 million active users, valuation at IPO = USD 104 billion = USD 115 per user = USD 38 per share

MSE: 10 million active users, valuation at sale = GBP 87 million = USD 130 million = USD 13 per user

So if Facebook obtains the same value per user as MSE the share price of Facebook would be USD 4.3 per share. :eek:

Are there really 10 million active users, or are there 10 million people that have signed up to the website at one point or another? ;)

And a big ^ for his excellent tax planning in giving a large donation to charity! :D

Read the release from moneysupermarket:

Revenue £15m
Profit before tax and interest £12m (so 7 x EBIT)
% of revenue that ALREADY comes from moneysupermarket: 59% :eek:

No wonder he says "I didn't shop the business around, I went straight to them as they were the obvious partner" :D

Given the profitability of the company already, he was clearly raking it in whether or not he sold. And I rate him, I use the site (despite being a finance professional myself). How good is it? Well, last year he flagged an investment loophole which I followed and is making me £30,000 gross per year this year and for the next 2-3 years as well. He also showed how to restructure your pension to drastically reduce the management fee whilst keeping the pension identical to how it was, which is saving me £500 net per year for the rest of my life.

whats this investment loophole?? still available?!!

I hope he is still going to appear on Watchdog! :eek:

Well giving a vast amount like that to charity is a really good thing to do and deserves a big ^

So now we know why the Government has just done a U-turn on charitable giving.;)

I like Lewis but I do think the site has run out of steam over recent times and there are very few really useful tips on there these days. I just hope he doesn't turn himself into a self-serving campaigner for all he sees as good in the world a la Jamie Oliver. I'd have to say the signs aren't promising on that.

.....I can't even remember my username. But pride of place is a message from the man himself telling me i'm not welcome on the board after I had a massive pop at them for producing a a guide on 'how to get free airline upgrades' :D.

OK, we can all do our best to maximise our chances of getting upgraded (Exec Club for starters) - but the way the guide was phrased and for the audience, it almost seemed to guarantee an upgrade for anyone who flew, which I criticised for producing unrealistic expectations, and probably upsetting a fair few people who will get an unequivical 'no' at check-in when they presumed it would be guaranteed....

Have you still got that upgrade guide? Would be rather fun to read it so do post it on here

Have you still got that upgrade guide? Would be rather fun to read it so do post it on here

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/how-to-get-a-free-upgrade

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/how-to-get-a-free-upgrade

That is a good read!

It actually seems like fairly sound advice to me!

What was the problem with it Sam Bee?

That is a good read!

It actually seems like fairly sound advice to me!

What was the problem with it Sam Bee?

Agreed...seems like good advice and doesn't seem to over promise at all

Facebook: 901 million active users, valuation at IPO = USD 104 billion = USD 115 per user = USD 38 per share

MSE: 10 million active users, valuation at sale = GBP 87 million = USD 130 million = USD 13 per user

So if Facebook obtains the same value per user as MSE the share price of Facebook would be USD 4.3 per share. :eek:

Not a fair comparison given that MSE isn't really growing and is limited to the UK market which it has already saturated. FB is growing still significantly and has lots of alternate monetization paths in the future to pursue.
That said, my target on FB is $20-22 based on market comps for P/E around the Google range, which I think has similar growth prospects overall. But even that is generous given the lack of clarity in the FB mobile strategy.

His ties with the media must have been a major factor in managing to get his website so well established. Well done to him.