Troubled local services site SkillPages has been acquired by Bark

We last wrote about SkillPages, the Irish startup that connected people with local service providers, when it redesigned its iOS app in March last year. Since then the company had a troubled time. It shut abruptly before Christmas with $27 million (€24 million) in debts and a liquidator was appointed.

But there’s now some good news – Bark, a British marketplace for service professionals, has acquired SkillPages for an undisclosed amount.

Andrew Michael, Bark’s co-founder, a serial entrepreneur who sold his previous businesses, LiveDrive and FastHosts, for close to $230 million, told TNW that he is in discussions with SkillPages’ 36 employees.

Former Skype executive Laura Shesgreen, who took over the day-to-day running of SkillPages from its founder Iain Macdonald in 2013, has left the company.

Bark is currently in the process of transferring the accounts of SkillPages’ 25 million users over to its service.

SkillPages attracted investment from a glittering lineup of backers, including Irish business titan Michael Smurfit and U2’s former manager Paul McGuinness as well as Enterprise Ireland.

➤ SkillPages