PR NEWSWIRE – Nov 17 – Match Group has agreed to sell $450M aggregate principal amount of 5.000% senior notes due 2027 in a private offering. The Offering is expected to close on Dec 4, 2017, with gross proceeds from the Offering of ~$445.6M. Match Group intends to use the proceeds to redeem its existing senior notes due 2022, and to pay accrued interest and expenses associated with the redemption.
Category: Match Group
Match Group’s New Executive Management Appointments
PRNEWSWIRE – Nov 15 – Match Group has made a series of internal leadership appointments to coincide with Mandy Ginsberg's planned assumption of the Company's CEO role by January 1, 2018. These include:
- Elie Seidman, currently CEO of OkCupid, will become Tinder's new CEO, reporting into Ms. Ginsberg.
- Amarnath Thombre, currently Chief Strategy Officer at Match Group, will become CEO of Match Group Americas, where he will oversee Match, Match Affinity Brands, PlentyOfFish, OkCupid and Match's Latin America businesses, reporting into Ms. Ginsberg.
- Hesam Hosseini, currently CEO of PlentyOfFish, will become CEO of Match and Match Affinity Brands, reporting into Mr. Thombre.
Match Group is actively recruiting to fill the CEO positions at both OkCupid and PlentyOfFish.
Match Group Rumored To Offer $1B For Bumble
FORBES – Nov 14 – Bumble began monetizing via in-app purchases only in Aug 2016 and will cross $100M in sales this year, a figure that – aided by the introduction of tailored, hyperlocal advertising – is projected to double in 2018. Herd turned down a $450M buyout offer from the Match Group earlier this year, according to sources with knowledge of the conversations. And these sources maintain that Match approached the company again this fall to discuss a valuation well over $1B. Match declined to comment. ~10% of Bumble's users pay $9.99 for a monthly subscription. At Tinder, just ~5% of users pay for a similar service. Bumble took an initial ~10M investment from Badoo's founder Andrey Andreev for launch marketing in exchange for 79% of the company. Bumble has 70 employees, ~85% of whom are women. Bumble has recently launched BFF, an offshoot that focuses on platonic connections between women, and Bizz, which offers a challenge to LinkedIn. Bumble BFF has been tried by ~3M users, but just 500K are active in a typical month. Bumble Bizz is too new to evaluate.
by Clare O'Connor
See full article at Forbes
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Match Group Q3 Results: Revenue Up 19%
MATCH GROUP – Nov 7 – Total Revenue was $343M, a YOY 19% increase. Direct Revenue grew to $330M, an increase of 21%, driven by 18% growth in Average PMC to 6.6M and a 1% increase in ARPPU. Average PMC at Tinder exceeded 2.5M, adding a record 476,000 PMC during the Q3, driven primarily by product changes and technology improvements. Operating income was $91M, flat to Q3 2016, and Adjusted EBITDA increased 12% to $120M, both burdened by $11 million in expenses related to the Tinder option conversion and exercises.
For Match Group Investors, A Look Beyond Tinder
BARRONS – Oct 12 – Match Group shares rocketed higher on Wednesday, despite an analyst's view that the stock is now priced appropriately. Goldman Sachs analyst Christopher Merwin sees potential in new video features that are set to roll out soon. That said, he thinks that the company's investments could weigh on its profits going forward. Those video features may boost engagement on Match and other legacy dating sites, but they also could boost the company's server costs. Match shares were up 3.6% Wednesday. The stock has jumped ~50% since the start of the year.
CEO Interview With CEO Of Match Group, Mandy Ginsberg
KERA.ORG – Oct 6 – CEO host Lee Cullum goes inside the business of online dating with Mandy Ginsberg, CEO of Match Group. Ginsberg says innovating through technology is crucial in an increasingly competitive market. Watch the full video interview here.
Shares Of Match Are Up 31% Since The Tinder Gold Launch
BARRON'S NEXT – Oct 5 – About a month ago, Tinder finally gave users a chance to pre-sort their potential matches. With Tinder Gold, users only see people who've already liked them. That little paid feature has lit a fire under parent company Match Group's stock. Shares of Match have soared 31% since the Gold launch, and Match's shares are up 9% this week alone, as Tinder continues to place highly in the App Store's rankings of top-grossing apps.
by Emily Bary
See full article at Barron's Next
Match Group – Market Leader Of World’s Most Enduring Industry
SEEKING ALPHA – Oct 2 – MTCH stock is a lot like love: it arouses feelings of excitement in some, while evoking fear in others. The industry has very low barriers to entry and established players must always consider the threat of incoming competition. However, once established, the top brands usually retain their position. Match's market share is estimated to be 25.7%, with eHarmony coming in at 12%. Match Group is to online dating almost what Facebook is to social media. Some investors look at Match Group's steadily declining average revenue per paying user (ARPPU) as an indication that customers are less willing to pay. However, management noted in its Q1 '17 conference call that each of its top six brands had either flat or higher ARPPU YOY, an indication of stable pricing. The declines are related to product mix shifts toward lower-cost Tinder services and toward international customers which also have lower ARPPU. Match's business, pairing up people looking for a romantic connection..is as timeless as any business around. Fast forward 5, 10, or 15 years and online dating stigma may be a thing of the past, particularly given the up-and-coming generation growing up on Tinder.
Match Group Vice Chairman Sam Yagan Sells 684,583 Shares
LEDGER GAZETTE – Sep 10 – Sam Yagan has sold 684,583 shares of Match Group's stock at an average price of $21.95, for a total value of ~$15M. He now owns 464,963 shares, valued at ~$10M.
by Jennifer Salazar
See full article at Ledger Gazette
This post also appear on InternetDatingInvestments.
Match Hits Record High As Tinder Subscription Service Rolls Out
INVESTORS.COM – Aug 31 – Tinder announced in June it was testing Tinder Gold, a premium feature at $5 per month, designed to enhance the user experience. It was initially tested in Argentina, Australia, Canada and Mexico and now is being rolled out in the U.S., initially to iPhone users. Match stock jumped 7.3% to close at 21.21 yesterday, hitting a record high. The company came public in November 2015, pricing shares at 12.
by Brian Deagon
See full article at Investors.com
