I can’t believe I haven’t posted about this, must have been too much eggnog during the holidays. Mining/holding company Mountains West have announced their intention to merge Together, The Right One and eLove to create an off-and-online dating powerhouse.

Nothing says “we care deeply about creating long-lasting relationships” than being bought by a mining company involved in coal bed methane in the South Central Colorado region.

Markus calls it a the beginning of a big dating site rollup. I couldn’t disagree more. I’ve been hearing that terms used for years, and it never happens. The money men didn’t swoop in when the going was good, why would they start now?

I read about Meetic buying Mountains west outright or eHarmony buying up shares and I scratch my head. I’m not a finance guy but I can’t believe that’s how major dating sites are going to drive traffic and leads in 2007. Especially when they are used to spending $50-$90 million a year on mass marketing.

The saga when Think Partnership Sold Dating Subsidiaries in March 2006.

Dating Site, elove, Finance, mountains+west, Offline, the+right+one, together