Dating site operator Cupid has bought two Brazilian dating sites in a deal worth £500,000.

Edinburgh-based Cupid has snapped up AondeNamoro.com, a traditional online dating site, and SolteirosCom Filhos.com, a dating site for single parents.

The deal will see Cupid pay £350,000 cash within the next two weeks with the remainder conditional on the sites hitting business targets in the next six months.

Both sites, which have 1.4 million members in total, are owned and managed by Brazilian entrepreneur Edgard Nogueira, who will stay in place for the time being.

Cupid believes the Brazilian market offers a huge growth opportunity with an estimated 62 million single people in the country.

Bill Dobbie, chief executive of Cupid, said: "This acquisition provides a great opportunity for us to gain a foothold into Brazil.

"This is a market that we see as having strong medium to long term potential for Cupid.

"We are confident that, through a combination of our experience in online dating marketing and the support and local knowledge of the team in Rio de Janeiro, we can continue to improve these sites' performance."

Cupid raised £12 million in a share placement in April which it said would fund its ambitious acquisition strategy.

It went on to buy a 75 per cent stake in German online dating sites, Liebe GmbH and WomenWeb GmbH, both founded by German online dating site pioneer Andreas von Maltzan.

Cupid already has a membership base of more than 13 million registered users and nine million members and operates in 29 countries globally.

Source: growthbusiness.co.uk