Tesco has vowed that the site, which is the number one in the women's marketplace, will retain its independence, describing it as an "arm's length brand".
According to the US site, the deal is part of its strategy of raising much-needed cash. Towards the end of last year, iVillage.com was evicted from the Nasdaq after its shares failed to maintain a $1 minimum for 30 consecutive trading days.
Despite the delisting, iVillage has proved one of the survivors of the dotcom boom and has moved out of loss in late 2001. IVillage also owns Women.com, the Business Women's Network, Lamaze Publishing, the Newborn Channel, ivillage Solutions and Astrology.com operations.
Meanwhile, in the UK, iVillage will not feature any Tesco branding and will remain editorially independent. Tesco.com will, however, offer joint advertising packages to advertisers, with plans to maximise the flow of traffic between and . Tesco will continue to provide marketing and promotions support for iVillage via in-store promotions and through Tesco media.
Philip Rooke, CEO of iVillage.co.uk, said: "Today's deal reiterates the success of iVillage UK to date and secures its future success. From here, the business will be catapulted forward in terms of traffic, revenues and services to consumers. We'll have unique opportunities that will make us the leading advertising sites for FMCG and consumer goods."
The site launched in December 2000. It was unveiled in July 2000, with iVillage Inc and Tesco saying they would invest 拢70m in the site. ABC Electronic figures show that 1.2m users use iVillage every month, generating more than 14m page impressions.
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