24.com buys Blueworld

24.com has acquired a controlling stake in Blueworld Communities – a local social networking group.

24.com recently acquired a controlling stake in Blueworld Communities, a social media company founded by Bradley Voges, Brendt Brooks and Charl Norman which focuses on building and maintaining web technologies such as social networks.

Blueworld Communities owns and runs the websites Blueworld, Zoopedup and Gaypeers and generally targets a younger audience through its social media platforms.

24.com CEO Russel Hanley says that the acquisition gives the company access to both Blueworld’s established online community and their social networking technology.

Hanley highlighted the fact that Blueworld Communities’ audience is complimentary to the 24.com audience and they will definitely look at synergies in future. The 24.com CEO further pointed out that the Blueworld Communities technology will enable them to target certain niche social media markets in future.

"We are very excited to be a part of the 24.com family and look forward to leveraging their assets to further expand our social network's market reach.,” said Charl Norman from Blueworld Communities.

“We also have a very strong youth demographic which compliments 24.com's older user base. We are very proud of the social media platform we have built and look forward to exploring synergies between our technology and existing 24.com brands to further expand our niche social network strategy."

Media24 is the dominant player in the South African online market with well established brands like News24, 24.com, Health24, Wheels24 and Fin24. This latest acquisition will further improve their strength among younger Internet users, a market which Naspers have already started targeting with its shareholding in MXit.