Match.com IPO Planned

(RTTNews) - Media and Internet company IAC/InterActiveCorp. (IACI) announced that its Board has approved a plan to spin off its Match Group, which includes online dating sites Match.com, OKCupid and Tinder, as a publicly traded company through an initial public offering.

"As many know from our actions over the last 20 years, I'm not a believer in simply agglomerating assets in perpetuity. I've long felt that as entities grow into size and maturity it's healthy to give them separation and independence from a mother church," IAC Chairman Barry Diller said.

The company had earlier in 2008 spun off four companies simultaneously, leaving it with a much smaller IAC.

Match Group will issue less than 20 percent of newly-issued shares of common stock in the IPO. The IPO is expected to be completed during the fourth quarter. Following the IPO, Match Group will still be majority owned by its parent IAC.

The company also named Joey Levin as the new chief executive officer of IAC. Levin, who served IAC for the past 12 years, is the the former head of its search and application business. He has also joined its Board of Directors.

Meanwhile, the company said Greg Blatt will remain Chairman, and Sam Yagan CEO, of the Match Group.

"The Match Group is poised for substantial growth in the coming years. The dating industry has come a long way since its inception, but the category remains underpenetrated. We believe the combination of our more established businesses such as Match, Meetic, and OurTime, and earlier stage businesses such as Tinder and OkCupid, creates an attractive combination of significant cash flow generation, strong margins and meaningful growth potential," Blatt stated.

Launched in 1995, Match.com is the largest dating site in the world. It operates in 25 countries in eight different languages.

Match group also includes other education and fitness sites such as The Princeton Review, Investopedia, DailyBurn and About.com.

IAC also said Chief Financial Officer Jeff Kip is resigning from the company to spend more time with his family in Boston, and to pursue other interests. Kip will remain with IAC for an interim period and will help with transition to a new CFO. He served as executive vice president and CFO since March 2012.