Fairpoint Group Buys Moneyextra.com, Looks To Mix Up Revenue

LONDON (Dow Jones)--U.K. consumer debt adviser Fairpoint Group PLC (FRP.LN) Wednesday said it has agreed to buy price comparison website Moneyextra.com Ltd for an expected cost of GBP8 million as it looks to increase customer numbers by offering more money-saving products. Fairpoint, which provides financial advice and debt solutions to consumers, said the acquisition accelerates the broadening of its revenue streams as the website allows consumers to find lower prices in products such as insurance, utilities and lending products. The acquisition is for an initial payment of GBP1 with up to a further GBP1 million of working capital being made available to Moneyextra in 2010 to replace existing borrowings and support revenue growth. A further payment based on targets is payable to the vendors and Fairpoint expects the ultimate total payment to be around GBP8 million. Fairpoint also Wednesday gave an update on first-half trading, saying that while revenue and profit has been slightly ahead of the same period in 2009, customer numbers have grown significantly over the period and are expected to materially boost second half profit. -By Rachael Gormley, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-20-7842-9308; rachael.gormley@dowjones.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 21, 2010 02:51 ET (06:51 GMT)