Friends Reunited, which was started in 1999, plans to merge the Australian site under the Friends Reunited brand and described the acquisition as the first move in an international rebranding exercise with the aim of providing one parent brand for all the services it offers.
has 1m members for its Australian and New Zealand reunification service, and also has sites for people who went to school in the UK, Ireland, Malaysia, Hong Kong, South Africa and Singapore.
Friends Reunited has 10m registered members, and has expanded its service so that people can find other people they went to university with, worked with, served with in the armed forces, or even people who have lived in their street.
It was started by the husband and wife team Steve and Julie Pankhurst, when Julie was pregnant and began wondering what had happened to people she went to school with.
The site generates revenues from advertising and a registration fee that allows people to contact each other.
Michael Murphy, CEO of Friends Reunited, said: "We expect our profitability to be further enhanced by this acquisition because Friends Reunited is no longer just about 'school days'.
"Now we reunite members throughout their life-stages, help them find a date or trace their ancestors. Just one example of why we are so excited is that there are 10m Australians with ancestors in the UK who are going to love [family-tree service] Genes Reunited."
The site has already spawned a range of spin-offs including School Disco compilation albums.
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