Bank of Ireland's UK building society, Bristol & West, has bought the consumer website MoneyeXtra.com for £26 million sterling (€43 million). It follows the acquisition of the independent British financial adviser Chase de Vere for £110 million sterling in July, signalling the bank's intention to target the sector in an effort to grow its income base. The acquisition is subject to the approval of MoneyeXtra's shareholders, although 49.9 per cent have voted in favour already.

It is being financed from Bristol & West's own financial resources.

MoneyeXtra is an Internet "infomediary" containing 2,000 pages of information on personal financial products and a search engine to allow consumers to select the product which best suits their requirements. It also provides links to allow Internet users to purchase financial products.

The website claims to have 500,000 visitors every month and has an investment tracking facility which is used by 300,000 investors to track their portfolios. Bristol & West has contracted to buy services from MoneyeXtra.com's business-to-business operation. It plans to establish licences and ongoing support services for periods of up to two years.

MoneyeXtra.com will operate as a standalone subsidiary of Bristol & West. It will continue to promote products and services from a range of financial institutions. Bristol & West said it was not intended that the website would be used to promote its own products or those of Bank of Ireland except where they were justified as market leaders. Bristol & West expects to invest up to £14 million sterling developing the business during the current financial year.

The acquisitions are part of Bristol & West's strategy to diversify its business from mortgages and it is examining other opportunities in the independent financial advisers sectors. It is moving towards providing an integrated service using the Internet, telephones and a personal customer service aimed at a broad consumer market across the UK.