* Blackstone to acquire Ancestry

[BillH]

For those who might be interested, this was just announced.

Blackstone today announced that the private equity fund it manages has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Ancestry®.

Blackstone’s acquisition will further accelerate Ancestry’s global leadership in Family History and consumer genomics, helping us achieve our mission to empower journeys of personal discovery to enrich lives. The Blackstone team is deeply inspired by our mission, aligned with our strategy and is confident in our prospects for the future.

They share our purpose and passion for delivering great experiences for our customers. That includes upholding our commitment to protecting our customers’ privacy and being good stewards of their data. Our robust consumer privacy and data protections remain unchanged under our new ownership.

Looking ahead, in collaboration with Blackstone, we will continue to leverage our unique content and technology platform to expand our global Family History business while bringing to life our long-term vision of personalized, preventive health.

We are grateful to our valued members and vibrant community for their continued trust and support.

We are thrilled to partner with Blackstone and believe that together we can continue to inspire millions more people to discover their family story and gain actionable insights about their health and wellness.

[E Wilcock]

What does this mean?
And what about the DNA side? Personal preventive health sounds a bit dicey ?

[ColeValleyGirl]

I suspect they'll try to further monetize the DNA side, and push additional 'health/wellness' features... at additional cost. Their challenge is going to be making money from the people who pay to test their DNA but never subscribe, or let their subscriptions lapse. A one time fee is just that and they need recurring revenue.

[AdrianBruce]

... Personal preventive health sounds a bit dicey ?

The point is that you'd have to sign up to it. Based on some people's views, these guys are going to harvest Ancestry's DNA to work out susceptibility to diseases X, Y and Z. Well, colour me sceptical but how is that going to happen? Someone will have to tell them that "Oh, I'm susceptible to X but not Z". Like that's going to happen with any certainty. And then how much data will they need to come to any overall conclusions? A lot.

The way I read it, people can't quite agree on what colour eyes or skin Cheddar Man had, so working out your susceptibility to COVIDs 1 thru 18 (I presume they must have existed??) is going to be a lot more complicated than just staring soulfully at lots of DNA.

[AdrianBruce]

... A one time fee is just that and they need recurring revenue.

Exactly. And I suspect that sooner or later someone is going to twig that the supposed big numbers of people ... aren't there in any real sense. For instance, Facebook charge for adverts, I understand - what happens when someone works out that most people are like me and don't read the things! (OK - I admit it - I did read the advert for a Star Wars Light Sabre.... Once!)

[Peter Collier]

COVIDs 1 thru 18 (I presume they must have existed??)

No, the 19 stems from the fact from the first identifiable cases were reported in 2019.

[AdrianBruce]

... the 19 stems from the fact from the first identifiable cases were reported in 2019.

I did wonder after I hit <send>, but thought - surely they can't be using 2-digit years!

[MB@RE]

Its quite possible you may see an end or gradual decline in the number of free weekends to access records.
This would be a sad day should this occur.

[GeneSniper]

... the 19 stems from the fact from the first identifiable cases were reported in 2019.

I did wonder after I hit <send>, but thought - surely they can't be using 2-digit years!

COrona VIrus Disease 2019, probably think they will have a cure for it before the 22nd Century and don't need to have a four digit year.

[Gowermick]

It was reported to WHO on 31 Dec 2019, hence the 19.
One day later and we’d all be talking about Covid-20