Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman. Photo credit: World Economic Forum/swiss-image.ch/Photo Nicola Pitaro, under Creative Commons license

Blackstone, the private equity investment firm, has reached a deal to acquire Ancestry, the popular genealogy company, from its current owners which include a host of private equity firms. Blackstone is snapping up the majority of the company in a $4.7 billion deal, nearly triple the price of $1.6 billion that it was acquired for by its current owners in 2012. Ancestry’s current co-owners include firms such as Silver Lake, GIC, Permira, and Spectrum Equity. Apparently, all of Ancestry’s co-owners have agreed to sell their stake in the company save for GIC, which will continue to retain a stake in the company.

In Ancestry lies a company operating in more than 30 countries and with over $1 billion in annual revenue. Ancestry primarily offers genealogy services to [currently] more than 3 million paying subscribers. The company operates a host of online properties that offer distinct genealogy-related services.