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LEHI — Ancestry, the global leader in family history, has acquired leading French genealogy company Geneanet.
Geneanet alone has a large community in Europe of more than 4 million members and is available in 10 languages and more than 25 countries. The company has a free family tree platform, and the acquisition will allow for even greater access to historical records for Ancestry members, especially those with European ancestry, to explore their family history and connect with extended family all over the world.
The move is part of a larger effort by the Lehi-based family history giant to reach people all over the world who want to learn more about their ancestors. Ancestry currently has more than 30 billion records in over 80 countries, including the largest collection of European records. It already has projects digitizing and indexing French historical records, such as the soon-to-be-available complete French census birth, marriage and death records.
"Our members will greatly benefit from Ancestry's vast record collections and global network as they build their family trees and connect with new relatives and share their family stories," said Jacques Le Marois, founder and CEO of Geneanet in a recent press release. "I am delighted to build the next chapter together and look forward to the opportunity to play an active role in the company's future."
"We are thrilled to welcome Geneanet to the Ancestry family and look forward to working together to grow our global community so that more people can easily discover, craft and connect around their family story," said Deb Liu, Ancestry president and CEO. "Ancestry is committed to continued investment in Geneanet's free tree-building platform and the volunteer spirit of its community."
Geneanet will operate independently within the Ancestry portfolio of companies with Le Marois remaining CEO, and both companies hope to continue to grow a global community of users and connect them with their family history.
