STANDARD.CO.UK – Nov 18 – On Friday, Tinder's parent company, The Match Group, is due to float on the New York stock exchange. Analysts believe the app, which launched in 2012, has ~80M users worldwide and records 1.8B "swipes" a day. It is reported that Rad owns ~10% of the company. He admits he's "addicted" to Tinder – "every other week I fall in love with a new girl" – but right now is single. He is not interested in beautiful women though. "I need an intellectual challenge," he says. Tinder is launching an education and workplace add-on that will helps users identify their intellectual equals. Rad is still upset about Vanity Fair article, accusing Tinder of heralding the "dawn of the dating apocalypse". "Our research shows 80% of users are looking for a long-term meaningful relationship," he said.
Category: Match Group
4 Reasons To Swipe Left On Match Group’s IPO
FORBES – Nov 11 – 33.3M shares of Match Group are going on sale for $12 – $14 a piece. IAC wants to use the cash to lower its debt while leaving IPO investors with little economic control of Match and no voting control.
4 reasons to swipe left on this IPO.
- Shareholder unfriendly structure
This IPO gives the public shares with very little voting power. It is a common stock with 1.6% voting power. - Proceeds go to repay parent debt
After acquiring POF, Match will have $1.3B in long-term debt. - Disappointing valuation
Match’s valuation is way below what analysts expected. - Weak underwriters
The names of the lead underwriters on an IPO send a signal to investors about its quality. Topping the list are Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.
Who’s The Highest Paid Internet Dating Executive?
OPW – Nov 10 – Answer: Greg Blatt, the Chairman of Match Group. His salary was $500k in 2014, down from a cool million a year in 2013, and 2012. His total remuneration with stock awards for 2012, 2013 and 2014 totals $25 million.
A contender for the #2 spot is Sam Yagan, the CEO of Match Group. His salary is $500k but his total remuneration for 2012, 2013 and 2014 totals $12.77 million.
What do you think? Who else is at the top of the earnings tables?
Post by Mark Brooks @
Bloomberg Interview With CEO Of Hinge
BLOOMBERG BUSINESS – Nov 10 – Justin McLeod, Hinge‘s CEO, and Bloomberg Intelligence’s Paul Sweeney discuss Match‘s IPO filing and the recent trends in online dating.
See full article at Bloomberg Business
Barry Diller Values Online Dating Empire At $3.1B
NYPOST – Nov 9 – IAC will sell a 14% stake in Match Group to the public in an IPO later this year. The 33.3M shares will be priced between $12 and $14. At the midpoint, Match Group will raise $433M. Proceeds will go to repay debt owed to IAC.
Match Aims To Raise $433M In IPO
FT.COM – Nov 9 – Match Group is aiming to raise as much as $433M in its IPO. The company was looking to sell 33.3M shares at a range of $12 to $14 each.
by Shannon Bond & Nicole Bullock
See full article at Financial Times
Advertising Is Still Not A Priority For Tinder
BUZZFEED – Oct 27 – Match has said that generating ad revenue "has historically not been a principal focus" and that on Tinder, it has sold less than 2% of all available advertising spots. So while more ads will be showing up on Tinder in the long run, the company still needs to figure how to get people to pay for mobile products. Blatt said that Tinder’s subscription products continue to perform well, especially its "Super Like".
by Matthew Zeitlin
See full article at Buzzfeed
Summarized by
The Match Group Q3 Results: Revenue Up 19%
PR NEWSWIRE – Oct 26 – The Match Group revenue increased 19% YOY to $274M. Operating income increased 8% to $72M. The number of paid subscribes is up 16% (North America +7%, International +34%). The IPO is expected to be completed in Q4 2015.
The full article was originally published at Seeking Alpha, but is no longer available.
Summarized by
Match Group Files For IPO
WSJ – Oct 16 – Match Group, owner of Tinder, OkCupid and Match.com has filed to go public on Friday. Their shares would be listed on Nasdaq under the symbol MTCH. The preliminary filing indicated Match would raise up to $100 million. Match Group's parent company IAC will retain over 50% of voting rights after the IPO.
The company logged $888.3 million in revenue in 2014, up about 11% from the previous year, according to its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Match's net income for 2014 was $148.4 million, up 18% year over year. All Match's dating properties have more than 59M MAU and approximately 4.7M paid members.
by Georgia Wells & Maria Armental
See full article at WSJ
This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.
IAC Interactive Has Gone On Sale With Catalysts Looming
SEEKING ALPHA – Sep 26 – Shares of IAC have fallen 20% while the company is in the midst of monetizing Tinder, in anticipation of an IPO later this year. The shares have been sold off in the last several weeks, from $85 to the current $68. Match Group is expected to rake in $900M in revenue this year with ~22% of the market share in the dating apps industry. While Tinder has yet to turn a profit, it has a surging user base that may be worth billions with ~74% of mobile dating market share. Some analysts have pegged the value of the entire Match Group to be ~$5B alone. With the Tinder CEO stating that the company is realizing 800M swipes per day, the company stands to reach as many people as half the active daily users that are currently on Facebook. The monetization from this active user base is enormous.
See full article at Seeking Alpha