Ancestry expansion?

Times like these are times of opportunity. Companies that are overextended, or suffering a drop in clientele as consumers become more selective, become takeover targets.

The Generations Network, parent of Ancestry, seems to be well placed to benefit from such opportunities. It's the biggest player in the online genealogy sector. An article Family history company may make acquisitions, go public in the Salt Lake Tribune reports company CEO Tim Sullivan as saying the company is extremely profitable, has more than a million paid subscribers to its family history services and $190 million in yearly revenue.

The article also reports that "former CFO David Rinn has been tapped to run a new corporate group focusing on developing partnerships with other companies and potential acquisitions."

Statements from privately held companies must always be treated with caution, but I'd be keeping my eyes on second tier companies, such as WorldVitalRecords.com. WVR has come in for some negative comment recently as additions are rather thin, for example, the recent addition of The Windsor Herald (Windsor, Ontario, Canada) only has years 1855 - 1856, and some databases previously offered are no longer available.