Uswitch

Uswitch Limited is a UK-based price comparison service and switching website founded in 2000¹. Users can conveniently compare prices across various sectors of energy, personal finance, insurance, and communications

Uswitch Limited is a UK-based price comparison service and switching website founded in 2000. Users can conveniently compare prices across various sectors of energy, personal finance, insurance, and communications ==History== uSwitch.com was founded by Lord Milford Haven in September 2000 with an initial £4 million investment to take advantage of the UK's deregulated gas and electricity markets. He partnered with Andrew Salmon, and Vipul Amin. The company subsequently expanded into the telephony and communications markets in 2001. In the same year, it also bought competitor buy.co.uk followed by local community information website UpMyStreet.com in 2003. uSwitch.com was itself acquired by US media conglomerate, E. W. Scripps Company in March 2006 for £210 million ($366 million). The purchase added a second freestanding interactive media business to its portfolio alongside leading US product price comparison site, Shopzilla. In February 2008, E. W. Scripps Company recorded a $411 million pre-tax charge related to the uSwitch acquisition, contributing to an overall $256 million loss for Scripps in the last quarter of 2007. The scale of the write-down reflects more realistic revenue expectations due to lower-than-expected levels of switching. In December 2009, uSwitch was acquired by Forward Internet Group for $10.3 million in cash. Forward is a privately funded collection of internet-based businesses focused on consumer engagement and innovation. Forward3D is the group's 3D search agency (formerly known as TrafficBroker) and Forward Innovations is the consumer division that focuses on price comparison and switching, including brands such as InvisibleHand and Omio. In June 2011, uSwitch acquired Top10.com. 2011 also saw uSwitch enter the Irish market with uSwitch.ie, which operates in the same way as the UK but currently offers switching services for broadband, TV, phone, and energy services and not insurance or financial services. In August 2013, LDC backed an MBO of uSwitch, the private equity firm acquired a significant stake in the business with Forward Internet Group retaining a substantial minority holding. Both investors aligned with the existing management team who have a minority holding in the business. On 30 April 2015, the property website firm Zoopla agreed to purchase uSwitch from LDC for £160 million. In 2018, Red Ventures and the investment firm Silverlake purchased Uswitch from the property giant Zoopla to create RVU, a family of brands of which Uswitch is now a part. ==Partners and affiliates== Major partners include Yahoo, AOL, Orange, Virgin Media, People's Champion and Johnston Press. ==References==

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