Fatfish’s LoveOutLoud Asia acquired by Lunch Actually

By Digital News Asia October 16, 2014

Aqcuisition satisfied entirely by scrip, terms and amount not disclosed
LoveOutLoud team to become fully integrated with Lunch Actually Group

Fatfish’s LoveOutLoud Asia acquired by Lunch Actually

ONLINE dating mobile app provider LoveOutLoud Asia Pte Ltd, which Internet venture accelerator Fatfish Internet Group Ltd has a stake in, has been acquired by Lunch Actually Group for an undisclosed amount.

The acquisition of LoveOutLoud Asia will be satisfied entirely by scrip in Lunch Actually Group. Commercial terms have been agreed upon between the parties involved but were not disclosed.

Shareholders of LoveOutLoud Asia will receive shares in Lunch Actually Group – which claims to be South-East Asia's largest dating and match-making service provider.

Fatfish’s LoveOutLoud Asia acquired by Lunch Actually "LoveOutLoud Asia has experienced rapid growth in its short existence and Lunch Actually Group will provide a platform that will greatly expand the potential of the app," said Fatfish Internet Group chief executive officer Kin-Wai Lau (pic).

"Given our confidence in the prospects of Lunch Actually Group, we prefer the scrip-only transaction as Lunch Actually Group has high upside potential."

The transaction will also mark the first exit of investments by Fatfish Medialab, a unit of Fatfish Internet Group.

Prior to the exit, Fatfish Medialab held a 10% stake in LoveOutLoud Asia.

According to the company in a statement, the investment in LoveOutLoud Asia was completed by Fatfish Medialab in July 2014. Fatfish Medialab administers the Singapore government's i.JAM funding scheme that supports entrepreneurs developing digital media products.

LoveOutLoud, which was launched in late 2013, is touted to offer a unique dating app that uses an extensive matching algorithm which examines the facial profile, personality and cultural behaviour of users.

It then searches the best potential matched data and transmits the information to each user via smartphone once per day at noon.

To date, LoveOutLoud has provided 350,000 matches and successfully paired over 10,000 singles across South-East Asia with a ‘one match daily’ model.

"Moving forward, the LoveOutLoud team will become fully integrated with Lunch Actually Group as it drives the digital expansion of the group throughout Asia," said Fatfish Internet Group in a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange on October 16.

Lunch Actually Group, which has offices in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong, currently claims more than one million clients across South-East Asia and various bsiness units that cover both the online and physical value chain of the dating industry.

Having recently expanded into their fourth market, Indonesia, the Lunch Actually Group has experienced 30-50% revenue growth annually since 2012.

"As a company that constantly innovates to meet the changing needs of singles, we have been on the lookout to collaborate with mobile dating apps," said Violet Lim, Lunch Actually Group chief executive officer, in a statement.

"We are impressed by the LoveOutLoud founders' ability, high standards, as well as their perseverance to build and scale an effective dating app with limited resources and budget.

“LoveOutLoud will certainly fit well in our company culture and we are looking forward to work closely with the team to continue to serve the needs of singles," she added.