By Abigail Summerville
NEW YORK, Oct 14 (Reuters) - The Knot Worldwide has agreed to buy its smaller peer Zola, adding to its portfolio of leading wedding-planning brands, according to two people familiar with the deal.
The Knot, which is owned by investment firm Permira, helps couples find local wedding vendors and create personalized wedding websites.
Zola offers similar services such as wedding and registry sites, invitation design and guest-list management. Zola will continue to operate as a standalone
brand within The Knot's portfolio of global brands, the people said.
The companies and Permira declined to comment. Financial terms of the deal were not immediately available.
The Knot launched in the 1990s and Permira has been invested in it since 2018.
Last year, the company appointed outsider and former Etsy executive Raina Moskowitz as its CEO to help reorganize the business and launch new AI tools in the face of rapid technological transformation. This year, for example, it launched an app within ChatGPT, which it called the first of its kind within the wedding industry.
Zola launched in 2013 and raised $100 million in a Series D financing round in 2018 at a reported valuation of around $600 million. That round was led by existing investor Comcast Ventures, with new investors NBCUniversal and Goldman Sachs Investment Partners also participating. Zola's co-founders Shan-Lyn Ma and Nobu Nakaguchi remained significant owners.
Zola will become the 14th brand in The Knot's portfolio. The deal is subject to customary closing conditions, including any required regulatory clearances, the people said.
(Reporting by Abigail Summerville in New York; Editing by Colin Barr and Jamie Freed)
