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IAC Adds More Local Emphasis And iPhone Status By Acquiring Urbanspoon

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imageOnline restaurant guide Urbanspoon is now part of the IAC (NSDQ: IACI) portfolio, adding more local flavor to the mix with Citysearch. The acquisition was announced this morning with the company’s Q1 earnings but actually took place Feb. 13; no financial details were disclosed but IAC has been vocal about staying with tuck-in acquisitions and I believe this one to be in the low double-digit millions. (That would be far below IAC’s $100 million self-imposed limit.) Release.

Seattle-based Urbanspoon was cofounded in 2006 by Ethan Lowry, Adam Doppelt and Patrick O’Donnell; yes, it was a site before it was a popular iPhone app boosted by its appearance in Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) ads. It will remain an independent brand and a wholly-owned subsidiary of IAC, reporting to Citysearch CEO Jay Herratti; he also oversees InsiderPages and Evite. It currently covers the U.S., Canada, the UK and Australia.

In its Q1 earnings release today, IAC said the Urbanspoon and Citysearch apps have been downloaded more than 4 million times; the bulk of that is likely Urbanspoon. (The company also said its Dictionary.com app has been downloaded more than 1 million times since it debuted on April 8.) Urbanspoon achieved near-iconic iPhone status when its app, which includes the ability to shake the phone for GPS-based dining suggestions, was featured in an iPhone ad. More details on our sister site paidContent.org.

Apr 29, 2009 9:04 AM ET

Posted In: Money, M&A & Venture Capital, Mergers & Acquisitions, iPhone, citysearch, iac, urbanspoon

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