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Private-equity and technology sources told Reuters on Wednesday that Match.com, owned by InterActiveCorp, has already secured Love21cn.com, one of China's biggest online dating services, as its main target for a potential stake purchase or business partnership.
A group of senior executives from Match.com's headquarters in Dallas, Texas, already paid a formal visit to Love21cn late last year and expressed interest in cooperating with the Chinese Web site, the sources said.
"They discussed business models and exchanged views about the online-dating market in China, which is still small but growing faster every day," one Silicon Valley-based source said.
"Match.com representatives also expressed interest in taking a stake in Love21cn.com when the situation becomes mature," the U.S. private-equity source said.
Meanwhile, eHarmony, Match.com's top rival in the U.S. market, is also looking at a number of potential partners in China. The company, which has more than 12 million users globally, has yet to secure a specific target, the sources said.
Match.com and eHarmony compete with Yahoo Personals in the United States, and U.S. online matchmakers may already lag French rival Meetic in China.
In November, China.com, controlled by online-software company CDC, said it would team up with Meetic for business promotion. Meetic in July also launched a localized Chinese site called "Mi Tang," or "Sweetie" in English.
A Meetic-led venture capital consortium is also expected to invest $20 million in a controlling stake in Beijing-based dating Web site YeeYoo.com, the sources said.
Foreign media giants are lining up to find partners in China to cash in on the country's online-service market--increasingly popular among Chinese teenagers--which consultancy firm iResearch expects to grow by some 60 percent in revenue annually to 653 million yuan ($84.21 million) by 2008.
Last month, sources told Reuters that media giant News Corp. was finalizing a deal to launch its networking Web site MySpace.com in China within months, while Microsoft already has similar functions on its Chinese MSN portal.
"Online dating services are still quite new in China, but the market has huge potential," said Richard Lim, a managing director for China-focused GSR Ventures.
"Many venture capital firms have shown interest (in the sector)," he said.
GSR Ventures and Mayfield Fund jointly invested $2 million in Baihe.com--which means "Lily" in English--in late 2005. Lim said his company so far has no intention to sell its stake in Baihe, which had more than 6.5 million users last July.
Most Chinese dating Web sites help users find partners for free.
But in December, Baihe began charging 1,980 yuan per person for its high-end "Golden" service, with the promise of a "stable love relationship" within six months for most users.
A "golden lily" is the term for a female foot bound in accordance with a Chinese tradition to enhance her marriageability.
"The business model for online dating is still challenging in China, because most Chinese Internet consumers are still unwilling to pay for the services," the first U.S. source said.
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