It’s a tender of Tinder shares!
Barry Diller’s IAC/InterActiveCorp said Thursday it will launch an IPO of its Match Group unit — whose dating businesses include Match.com, OkCupid and the fast-growing Tinder hookup app.
Indeed, it’s Tinder — whose swipe-left, swipe-right mobile app is estimated to have more than 30 million monthly active users worldwide — that’s getting Wall Street all hot and bothered.
This spring, IAC said a new paid version of Tinder racked up more than 250,000 subscribers in less than two months, despite complaints that older users got charged higher fees.
The worry, however, is that Tinder has been stealing customers away from Match.com and OkCupid, whose desktop platforms and monthly fees are falling out of favor with younger daters.
Billionaire Diller — who as chairman of IAC has spun off a slew of businesses over the years, including Expedia, HSN, Live Nation and TripAdvisor — said he wasn’t interested in hanging onto the dating businesses “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,” Diller said in a Thursday statement.
That’s despite the fact that Match Group now accounts for the lion’s share of IAC’s value.
Barclays analyst Chris Merwin estimates Match Group is worth $5.7 billion, with Tinder alone accounting for as much as $2 billion.
IAC had a market cap of $6.7 billion at the close of trading on Thursday — a day that saw the New York company’s shares jump 5.1 percent, to close at $81.19.
Earlier in the day, IAC hit a 52-week high of $82.40. The shares are up 34 percent this year.
IAC said Match Group’s current chairman and CEO will keep their respective roles at the unit, while IAC’s vacant CEO job was filled by Joey Levin, the head of its search & applications business.
IAC’s Chief Financial Officer, Jeff Kip, is resigning to pursue other interests.
Match isn’t the first dating site to flirt with investors this year with plans to go public.
In April, Ashley Madison, an online site for cheating spouses, said it was angling to raise as much as $200 million in an IPO on the London Stock Exchange.
Diller said the IPO should be completed in the fourth quarter.