Business

JDate owner Spark Networks is now in a new relationship

The owner of popular dating site JDate is answering to a new board.

Fed-up shareholders of Spark Networks, which owns JDate, ChristianMingle and SilverSingles, nixed four of the company’s six sitting directors, including Chairman and CEO Greg Liberman.

Shareholders instead picked four directors nominated by hedge fund Osmium, the company’s largest shareholder with 14.2 percent of the stock.

One of the two Spark directors who was re-elected, Thomas Stockham, resigned on Thursday, creating a new opening on the board. A Spark spokesman declined to comment.

“The new board is eager to work alongside Spark employees with a renewed sense of urgency, accountability and focus, in order to drive increased shareholder value,” said Osmium’s founder and new Spark director John Lewis.

The hedge fund pushed for a new board amid concerns that Spark’s plan to throw money at Christian Mingle hasn’t paid off, and has resulted in attention being taken away from the company’s crown jewel, JDate.

Spark has spent $120 million in direct marketing on Christian Mingle since 2011, marking a sizable increase. That has helped push revenue up to $70 million in 2013, compared to $45 million in 2009, but it has also dramatically increased costs as a percentage of revenue.

Direct marketing expenses as a percentage of revenues grew to a whopping 75 percent in 2013, up from 27 percent in 2009, Osmium has said.

Meanwhile, the company’s Jewish subscribers have fallen to their lowest levels since 2006.

Shares of Spark, whose ticker is “LOV,” rose less than on percent on Thursday to close at $5.68.