MyHeritage announced yesterday it has signed agreements to acquire 90.91 percent of the share capital and 89.11 percent of the voting rights of Filae, a leading genealogy service in France. Through additional planned steps, MyHeritage’s stake in Filae will increase later on to 100 percent.
The acquisition is expected to create new opportunities for genealogical discoveries for people with French roots. The exclusive historical record collections housed on Filae will be made accessible to MyHeritage users once the deal has been completed.
User benefits
In a news release, MyHeritage described the acquisition as “the dawn of a new era for French genealogy that will leverage Filae’s expertise in French historical records and MyHeritage’s cutting-edge technologies and global reach.”
MyHeritage subscribers can expect significant content enhancements between the months of September and December 2021.
The scope of services available to current Filae subscribers will remain unchanged and special benefits will soon be introduced to its members.
MyHeritage’s resources and technologies will enable Filae to accelerate the digitization and indexing of additional historical record collections, which will be made accessible to users of both platforms.
Filae to remain autonomous
Founded in 1994 by Toussaint Rose, Filae was formerly known as NotreFamille.com and Genealogie.com and renamed Filae.com in 2016.
Filae will remain a French company based in Paris and will continue to operate autonomously. Mr. Roze, the CEO, will continue to manage the company, and its operations will continue uninterrupted.
“As we did when we acquired Geni.com eight years ago, our plan is to maintain Filae’s independence and existing team, and strengthen it,” said Gilad Japhet, founder and CEO of MyHeritage. “French genealogists have much to gain from this combination, which brings together MyHeritage’s resources, its powerful matching technologies, and Filae’s extensive historical archives and its expertise in French genealogy. The acquisition of Filae is a significant step for MyHeritage that builds on a longstanding relationship of trust and mutual respect.”
“We sought to accelerate our growth and recognized the incredible opportunity before us,” said Mr. Roze. “MyHeritage has unparalleled experience, technological expertise, and an excellent reputation, and we are confident that by combining our respective strengths, Filae will experience strong growth that will enrich the family history resources for anyone of French descent.”
This marks the 12th acquisition by MyHeritage and reinforces the company’s position as the leading family history service in Europe.
Privacy guarantee
MyHeritage has a strong privacy framework that includes a strict commitment regarding the privacy of users’ data, making it unique among the major genealogy companies. Its privacy policy states unequivocally that MyHeritage has never sold or licensed personal data or genetic data and will never do so in the future
