01/06/2012

Lewis Sells MoneySavingExpert.com For £87m

In a deal announced this morning on the stock market, MoneySavingExpert.com (MSE) will join the MoneySupermarket.com group.

MSE will continue to operate as it does now, but with improved technology, so more people can gain from its MoneySaving techniques.

The site is being purchased for £60m upfront (a mix of cash and shares) with £27m more conditional on meeting non-financial performance targets over the next three years.

The Editorial Code has been agreed as part of the sale contract to ensure MSE follows its founding principles to provide the best information to help consumers, based on journalistic research. This editorial line will stay independent of any commercial objectives. See the full Editorial Code in Martin's editorial comment.

Founder Martin Lewis will donate £10 million to charity from the deal – Citizens Advice will get £1 million, with the remaining £9 million going to a Charities Aid Foundation trust, which means it’s locked away and can only be donated to official charities.

Mr Lewis said: "This is great news for MoneySavingExpert.com and its users, ensuring, with or without me, the site will be around for many years to come, maintaining our ethos of 'cutting your costs and fighting your corner.

"MoneySavingExpert.com has become part of people's daily lives, far bigger than the man who founded it, and now is the right time for it to stand on its own two feet.

"I chose MoneySupermarket to work with as I know and trust them. They understand the site, as they've shown by agreeing the Editorial Code, which ensures our content can proudly remain editorially independent and free from commercial considerations.

"I'm chomping at the bit to get going, and come up with new ways to help people save cash and continue campaigning on issues such as PPI and getting financial education on the curriculum. In keeping with the site's aims, when the deal completes, £10 million will go to charity, including £1 million to Citizens Advice, which is facing terrible funding cuts."

(CD)

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