Barry Diller, the chairman of IAC, will spin off the companys online dating business into a separate publicly traded company by the end of the year.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0companys Match Group, which owns Match.com, Tinder and OKCupid, plans to issue less than 20 percent of its shares in the\u00a0offering, with IAC holding the rest, according to a company\u00a0release.<\/p>\n
IAC,\u00a0Dillers holding company,\u00a0once housed various Internet businesses including CitySearch and Expedia, and Diller himself, who used to head up Fox and\u00a0built that network from an also-ran into one of the most-watched TV channels,\u00a0has typically sold or spun off its\u00a0units,\u00a0so this isnt unusual or unexpected.<\/p>\n
In fact, if you look closely at IACs balance sheet you can see why an investor would prefer to park his or her money in only its dating business. The Match Groups revenue is rising faster than any of Dillers\u00a0other businesses, gaining 11 percent last year to $897 million.<\/p>\n
For comparison,\u00a0IACs\u00a0Search group, which owns Ask.com, fell 1 percent,\u00a0its e-commerce business had a 3 percent rise in sales and\u00a0the\u00a0Media group, which includes\u00a0Vimeo, dropped 5 percent.<\/p>\n
But even then it may be a little late to hit the markets Matchs\u00a0sales growth has started to\u00a0slow and its profit is slipping. Match Groups Ebitda, or earnings before interest taxes depreciation and amortization, fell\u00a01 percent to $264 million last year, though that was related in part to its acquisition of Princeton Review. Yup, that Princeton Review, the test-prep company. Its not entirely clear why Diller incorporated it into the dating business, but the company line\u00a0is they both sell services directly to the consumer.<\/p>\n
As part of the spinoff, Joey Levin, the\u00a0CEO of its search business, has been named CEO of IAC and will\u00a0join its board. Greg Blatt stays\u00a0chairman of the Match Group with Sam Yagan\u00a0as CEO.<\/p>\n