Toptable to be bought for £35m by US firm OpenTable

UK restaurant reservation website Toptable will be bought by US firm OpenTable for $55m (£35.2m) in cash, it was announced today.

OpenTable, which provides free online reservations for diners and guest management systems for restaurants, will acquire the entire issued share capital, including outstanding options, of privately-owned toptable.com as part of the deal.

Jeff Jordan, president and CEO of OpenTable, said: "This acquisition of toptable.com is designed to accelerate the growth of our business in the United Kingdom in a meaningful way.

"By combining toptable.com's robust consumer destination site for diners with our best-in-class software for restaurants, we will be able to provide a superior service to restaurants and diners in the United Kingdom."

The transaction, expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2010, will be financed by OpenTable with existing cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments.

Founded in 2000, Toptable.com seats nearly three million diners across the UK and Europe every year through online bookings a year. It reported revenues of £6.3m for the fiscal year 2009 and net income of £750,000.

OpenTable believes it will incur around $1m in non-recurring transaction and integration costs by the end of the year.

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By Janie Stamford

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