MSE Sold for £87m

[Mrs James]

Wow!

High-profile personal finance commentator and campaigner Martin Lewis has sold his MoneySavingExpert.com website for up to £87m.
It is being bought by MoneySupermarket.com which runs an online price comparison service.
Martin Lewis will remain as editor-in-chief of MoneySavingExpert, which will retain its editorial independence via an agreed editorial code.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18295587

[Curlyben]

Re: MSE Sold for £87m

Nice bit of pocket change

[Sapphire]

Re: MSE Sold for £87m

Better than a smack in the mouth msl:

So, I wonder how much his advisors will get ?

[Crispybacon]

Re: MSE Sold for £87m

Mr Lewis showed his true colours a long time ago.

He wanted to publish a book based on the debt free diaries of forum members and although he asked peoples permission, went on to state that even if permission was declined, that the t&c's of the site meant that anything posted was owned by MSE and could be used as they see fit.

Said everything you needed to know.

[leclerc]

Re: MSE Sold for £87m

Not a lot of people are happy about the sale not because of necessarily who it is being sold to but because the independence of the site free from financial companies dictating policy is an issue. Furthermore he is being targetted to get an additional bonus once the initial sale goes through which does simply make you wonder whether the site might change to a degree.

[Amethyst]

Re: MSE Sold for £87m

Am suprised by the news but not sure how I feel about it yet. On one hand good luck to him - he's worked fricking hard and built an amazing resource and very very successful business and deserves to benefit from it. However the independence issue is a concern and I can understand people being a tad miffed that he's ''sold out'' and he's probably lost a few peoples trust, but MSE is a business and it's a business decision. I know he's sticking about with the forum for a fair while after the deal completes, but I'm not sure whether MSE is too reliant on Martin Lewis's identity to work without him or not.

Guess it's a wait and see what happens scenario.


(oh and in case any one was wondering - LB isn't selling)

[Celestine]

Re: MSE Sold for £87m

Yes it's a tricky situation. I am genuinely 100% pleased for him, he has worked incredibly hard and has done a brilliant job of bringing consumer issues to the mainstream attention they so desperately needed.
We've also always found his team, especially Wendy, very helpful and supportive.

But I do worry about the genuine independence of the site. However, I can see that an editorial code would work if robustly enforced. It isn't a total sell out because MoneySupermarket are after all a price comparison site. It hasn't been bought by one of the big insurers or banks thank God.

[enaid]

Re: MSE Sold for £87m

My question why is it worth £87m to anyone and how will they get the money back?
no laffin either lol

[mystery1]

Re: MSE Sold for £87m

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18295587

In the 12 months to the end of last October, MoneySavingExpert generated revenues of nearly £16m from 39 million users.

Of this income, about 59% was earned from referral fees paid by MoneySupermarket.
These are generated whenever a reader of MoneySavingExpert clicks on a link that takes him or her through to the MoneySupermarket price comparison service, or when the reader follows a link to a financial product or service provided by MoneySupermarket.

Under the terms of the deal, Mr Lewis, who started his website in 2003, will receive an initial £35m plus shares in MoneySupermarket.com worth £25m.
After three years he may receive a further £27m in cash and shares.


M1

[enaid]

Re: MSE Sold for £87m

So being ever cynical lol the clicking of links is like a spam thing then, where if you click and take the bait the spammer gets paid?

[Amethyst]

Re: MSE Sold for £87m

So being ever cynical lol the clicking of links is like a spam thing then, where if you click and take the bait the spammer gets paid?

Kind of. http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/sit...expert-finance is the info about the financing of the site (before this latest deal anyways) - MSE have always been very open about it and it is a darn clever model with a number of income streams.

xx

[Nibbler]

Re: MSE Sold for £87m

Must admit, was a bit surprised at first.

Suppose you can't expect that he is going to take the full weight of the site on his shoulders forever. People's priorities etc change.

Sounds like he's going to have his hands full in other ways soon.

https://twitter.com/MartinSLewis/sta...26167026843650

[EXC]

Re: MSE Sold for £87m

I think he's done more than his fair share for consumer rights.

What really winds me up is people knocking him simply because he's successful. You can be genuinely pro consumer and wealthy.

[enaid]

Re: MSE Sold for £87m

No one can thank ML more than I, had it not been for him on tv I would never have attempted or achieved a lot of what I have with consumer problems.
I didn't even have a PC when all the bank charges claiming started and foolishly I wrote off and paid someone for help to reclaim and they sent me a bloody CD to be played on a pc that I didn't even have, or have a clue how to use lol. You learn quick on some matters and I vowed then I would never pay anyone again in that way. I joined MSE but I fell at the first fence lol I could not find my way around, I then joined CAG and ended up here.
I just could not get my head a round that figure for a consumer site, I have been enlightened now and although I am thinking maybe the comparisons are not as genuine as they could be (things never are where money is involved) I can only thank ML for what he did for me and mine.

[alham]

Re: MSE Sold for £87m

Good luck to the guy - he did keep going at the banks when no one was interested