AshleyMadison.com, one of the most notorious dating websites for cheating spouses, is planning to offer public stock in London sometime this year because Americans say that they are "too moral."
It's a bit ironic, considering out of the 46 countries that use the dating service, 50 percent of the cheaters are located in America. So, it's safe to say that Americans are putting on an act, and want to be more "publicly moral," rather than actually being faithful to their significant others.
Toronto-based Avid Life Media, the parent company of AshleyMadison, said Wednesday it is looking to raise as much as $200 million for the massive expansion, according to newsoxy.com. Avid Life also operates Cougarlife and EstablishedMen, and by their names, one can infer what the services offer.
AshleyMadison, which has more than "22,995,000 anonymous members," encourages users to cheat on their partners.
"Europe is the only region where we have a real chance of doing an IPO," Christoph Kraemer, the company's head of international relations, told Bloomberg. "We're no longer a niche, but it's been difficult in North America to find the support to go public."
Europe is said to be "more tolerant" of adulterous acts.
Among the core group of users between the ages of 30 and 45, the ratio of men to women is 50:50, according to the company. AshleyMadison said female membership is increasing 10 percent faster than men each year.
Avid Life, which launched in 2001, claimed sales of $115 million last year, four times higher than in 2009, and says it's worth about $1 billion, Time reported.
Next up on Avid Life's list for expansion: Asia. The company hopes that by 2020, more than half of its business will come from the large continent.
The company that arranges the "discreet encounters between married people" has been critiqued numerous times, often harshly, and the service has even been referred to as "shameless."
Despite the criticisms, Kraemer acknowledged that by exposing people to the options on AshleyMadison, it allowed for some to come to their own conclusions about their marriages.
"We've had stories from members that we've returned love to the marital bed and made others realize the grass is not greener on the other side," he said.
