Buying a larger share of Meetic is the best way for Match.com to grow in Europe, according to Arnaud Riverain , financial analyst and founder of GreenSome Finance.

Match.com sold its European operations to Meetic in 2009 in return for a 27 percent stake in the company.

Before that deal, Match.com had tried to grow on its own, but didn't succeed that well, Riverain said.

Match.com will offer €15 (US$21) in cash for each Meetic share, a premium of about 11.6 percent on Friday's closing price, it said. The deal values Meetic at about €347 million.

Learning from the work Meetic has done, Match.com hopes to boost growth at its U.S. operations, it said. The deal will also offer Meetic new growth opportunities, the French company said.