INVESTORPLACE – Jan 27 – The real value in many online businesses is consumer data. However, that data carries the risk of being hacked. IAC spun off Match.com and lumped in The Princeton Review as well as Tutor.com. Lumping them together makes no sense unless there is a cross-promotion or data sharing between them. Jennifer Kohn, SVP of Communications at The Princeton Review said that its data is stored and managed completely independently of any other Match company. There are no US laws regarding data sharing but government crackdown on privacy and data sharing is coming. It could gut Match.com and its ability to cross-promote and share data.
Category: Match Group
Barry Diller Examines IAC’s Portfolio
BLOOMBERG – Jan 28 – Barry Diller, founder, chairman and senior executive at IAC, explains the evolution of and various reorganizations of the company and breaks down the state of each division.
The full article was originally published at Bloomberg, but is no longer available.
Match Parent Company Announces New Corporate Structure And Ticker
FOREXTV – Jan 21 – IAC will begin trading under: IAC. The five segments will include Match Group Inc., HomeAdvisor, video, publishing, and apps. Shares of IAC were inactive in premarket trade, but they have fallen 25% over the last three months, versus an 8% decline for the S&P 500. Match's shares have fallen 19% since their IPO.
The full article was originally published at ForexTV, but is no longer available.
Match Group Owns Tutor.com And The Princeton Review
MOTLEY FOOL – Jan 19 – In the first six months of 2014, Match's education business generated just $9M (~2% total revenue). But in the first six months of 2015, that figure surged to nearly $51M, (~10.5% total revenue). That gain was driven by the acquisition of The Princeton Review in the second half of 2014. In its S-1 filing, Match explains that it acquired The Princeton Review because "it relies on many of the same competencies as our dating business, such as paid customer acquisition, a combination of free and paid features, deep understanding of the lifetime values of customers, and strong expertise in user interface development."
One Big Thing Tinder CEO Sean Rad Says Everyone Gets Wrong
FAST COMPANY – Jan 13 – "People think Tinder went public and I'm a billionaire," says CEO Sean Rad. "Add it to the long list of shit that's misunderstood about me." When Match Group announced its plan for IPO, many articles made it sound like Tinder itself was going public. The reality is that Match Group is the majority shareholder of Tinder. The Match Group IPO doesn't really impact us," Rad explains.
by Austin Carr
See full article at Fast Company
Match.com Says Its Fastest-growing Group Is 50+
DALLAS NEWS – Jan 10 – "People over 50 are now more trusting of going on dating sites," said Navin Ramachandran, COO of Match Group. In fact, people ages 45 to 54 are as likely to date online as those 18 to 24 because they're divorced or far removed from typical dating hubs like college, according to a recent Pew Research Center report. The number of Match's 50+ singles has grown ~50% from 2009 through 2014 and account for 1/3 of all dating members. According to eHarmony: ~80K of its subscribers are over 80. The share of eHarmony's subscribers 50+ is also growing: from 9.5% in 2012 to 13.5% in 2015.
by Sheryl Jean
See full article at Dallas News
Match Group Short Sellers Not Looking For Long-term Commitment
REUTERS – Jan 6 – Short sellers have been having trouble committing to Match Group. Match's stock has fallen 8% from the close of its first day of trading on Nov. 19, but following over a month of volatile trading, it is still up 13% from the $12 per share price set by underwriters in its IPO. Traders are betting Match would fall further and join other freshly listed stocks struggling to keep stock prices above their IPO levels. Short sellers borrow shares and then sell them, hoping to repurchase them at a lower price and then return them to their owner. In the meantime, they must also pay interest to the owner.
Greg Blatt Is Replacing Sam Yagan As CEO Of Match Group
SEEKING ALPHA – Dec 22 – Match Group chairman Greg Blatt will become the online dating leader's chairman and CEO. Blatt replaces Sam Yagan, who will join the board as vice chairman. Princeton Review chief Mandy Ginsberg will become Match's North American chief, thus putting her in charge of Match.com, OkCupid, PlentyOfFish. Alexandre Lubot, CEO of Meetic, is now CEO of Match Group Europe, leaving him in charge of Meetic, Twoo, and other European brands. Match COO Navin Ramachandran is now CEO of Match Group Asia/Latin America, leaving him responsible for Pairs, Couples, ParPerfeito, and Match Asia. He'll remain COO. Princeton Review CPO Shar Dubey becomes president of Match Group North America and Emerging Brands GM Hesam Hosseini is the new GM of POF. Sean Rad will remain Tinder's CEO.
Post-IPO Talk With Sam Yagan, CEO Of Match Group
COLLECTIVEWISDOM.IO – Dec 15 – Match Group just went public, raising $400M. Sam Yagan spoke about how to handle negative PR, how to learn to love churn, and why founding a dating startup is harder than dating itself.
A New Chance To Buy Into Match Group: IPO Quiet Period Expiration
SEEKING ALPHA – Dec 8 – The 25-day IPO quiet period on MTCH will come to an end on Dec 14, allowing the firm's IPO underwriters to publish reports and recommendations on Dec 15. Match Group's share price will likely see a temporary increase as a result of the release of underwriter reports.
by Don Dion
The full article was originally published at Seeking Alpha, but is no longer available.