Friends United was one of the top social networks based in the United Kingdom several years ago.  ITV bought them out in 2005 for £175 million.  And now the company has been sold again, but this time for £25 million ($42 million).  The buyer at the $42 million price is Brightsolid, a subsidiary of DC Thomson.

ITV was previously considering an offer at a price of £15 million according to Mashable.  Brightsolid also runs a service called Find My Past.  Through the acquisition, Brightsolid has attained all of Find My Past’s assets which include a social networking website, a genealogy service, and a dating service.

The genealogy service is called Genes United, which has millions of users, many of who are paying subscribers.  The acquisition is subject to approval by competition authorities.