SEEKING ALPHA – Apr 12 – Tinder has recently reported a record high in the number of swipes. On March 29, Tinder witnessed over 3B swipes, which is the highest-ever recorded in a single day. More people swiping, however, does not guarantee earnings growth. As long as mobility is restricted and public gathering spaces remain closed, many dating app users will not be inclined to pay for premium services. Match Group makes money by charging users for subscriptions and displaying advertisements. Match Group CEO Shar Dubey confirmed that there has been an increase in the number of conversations on Tinder. But Match Group is seeing fewer new users joining their products. "In Europe, we've seen new subscriber declines of around 5% in aggregate since the crisis began, but in countries severely impacted by COVID-19, like Italy and Spain, we have seen more significant declines," says Shar Dubey. There's another disadvantage for Match Group. None of the apps offered by the company provide video calling facilities. Plenty of Fish recently announced a partnership with The Meet Group to roll out a live streaming feature. This is a step forward and will likely deliver desired results in the long term by enabling more interactions among users. However, the unavailability of video calling might push users away from dating apps in the short term. The Match Group will most likely report disappointing earnings growth for at least a couple of quarters. Shares might come under pressure as a result.
Category: The Meet Group
GROWLr to Launch Live Video Dating to Respond to Pandemic
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The Meet Group CEO: Video Dating Is up During COVID-19
KYW NEWS RADIO – Mar 28 – Geoff Cook, CEO of The Meet Group says video dating has risen dramatically on all of his company's dating apps since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. On KYW In Depth, Cook talked about the dating changes people have made in response to social distancing and how COVID-19 could result in far reaching changes to dating culture.
ProSieben Shares Rally After CEO Conze’s Departure
REUTERS – Mar 27 – Shares in ProSiebenSat.1 Media rallied by 9% on Friday after the departure of CEO Max Conze. ProSieben announced that Conze was leaving with immediate effect and CFO Rainer Beaujean would assume his responsibilities. Conze had sought to accelerate a pivot to digital commerce and advertising to offset a relentless decline in ProSieben's core commercial TV franchise, but while this preserved top-line growth it squeezed profitability and pushed up debt. The recent announcement of the $500M takeover of The Meet Group incurred the disapproval of Italian broadcaster Mediaset, which took advantage of a precipitous decline in ProSieben's share price to up its stake to 20%. Mediaset wanted ProSieben to change course and concentrate on its core media business. Analysts at Citi said it was possible that Mediaset could partner with Czech investor Daniel Kretinsky, who owns a 10% stake in ProSieben, to make a takeover bid.
Plenty of Fish Partners With The Meet Group for Free Livestreaming
PR NEWSWIRE – Mar 19 – Plenty of Fish today began rolling out a free livestreaming feature, dubbed LIVE!, for members to encourage singles to "date from a distance" as the nation practices social isolation. In partnership with The Meet Group, a leading provider of interactive livestreaming solutions, LIVE! enables Plenty of Fish app-users to livestream with friends and potential matches. Next week, LIVE! will roll out to 80% of the U.S. and will be made available to all global app-users by the end of April. Users can access livestreaming through the LIVE! Icon in the app.
The Top Dating Industry News for March 17th
OPW – Mar 17 – IDEA Summit, The Meet Group Acquisition & Financial Results, Grindr Acquisition, OKCupid Covid-19 Survey, Tinder's Swipe Night on Hold.
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ProSiebenSat.1 Wants to Save Itself With Streaming and Dating
WELT – Mar 16 – CEO Max Conze has completely rebuilt the ProSiebenSat.1 station group. But profits continue to plummet, the stock keeps falling and the management staff is leaving. Most recently, the broadcasting group generated €4.14B in revenue and an adjusted profit of €872M euros . The net debt is €2.25B. A few days ago, Max Conze announced that the group, together with the US financial investor General Atlantic, would take over the American app developer The Meet Group for ~$500M.
Q: Mr. Conze, how satisfied are you with the financial results?
A: We are in the middle of transforming our business into a digital group and we are on the right track. The TV advertising market is certainly difficult right now but at the moment less than half of our revenue is generated by traditional TV advertising. We invested a lot into digital advertising business which has already grown 38% this year.
Q: Your e-commerce companies are bundled in the Nucom Group, in which the financial investor General Atlantic holds 25.1 % of the shares. Can you afford The Meet Group acquisition with a net debt of €2.25B?
A: Yes, we would not have made the offer otherwise. We will hold 55% of the new unit, while GA would increase the shares to 45%. The Parship group with the brands Parship, Eharmony and Elite Partner together with The Meet Group would represent a company value of ~€1.2B.
Q: Would it be large enough to be spun off from the NuCom Group and listed on the stock exchange?
A: If we can turn the combined Parship-Meet Group into a global leader, it would be logical to aim for an IPO in the US over the next two or three years.
by Klaus Boldt
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The Meet Group Q4 and Full Year 2019 Financial Results
BUSINESSWIRE – Mar 11 – The Meet Group, a leading provider of interactive livestreaming solutions, reported Q4 revenue of $57.6M, up 10% YOY; adjusted EBITDA $13.3M, compared with $10.6M in the prior year quarter. 2019 full year revenue was $211.7M, up 19% YOY. On Mar 5, 2020, the Company announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by ProSiebenSat.1's and General Atlantic's joint company NuCom Group in an all cash transaction for $6.30 per fully diluted share representing an enterprise value of ~$500M. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2020. "This is an exciting time for The Meet Group," said Geoff Cook, CEO of The Meet Group. "I believe the transaction with ProSiebenSat.1 is a tremendous validation of our strategy to marry livestreaming video with dating."
How CEO Geoff Cook Set The Meet Group up for Sale
PHILADELPHIA BUSINESS JOURNAL – Mar 6 – CEO Geoff Cook said the $500M deal likely wouldn't have come together without its pivot toward livestreaming. He saw the success Asian dating apps had integrating livestreaming into their products and thought it could be recreated in Western countries. He plans on staying with The Meet Group, alongside with his team. As part of the all-cash deal, ProSiebenSat.1's e-commerce arm NuCom, which owns eHarmony, is slated to merge with The Meet Group. The deal values The Meet Group's shares at $6.30, a 30% premium over its average price in the past month.
by Michelle Caffrey
See full article at Philadelphia Business Journal
The Meet Group Executives to Speak at IDEA Summit and GDI Conference in New York
BUSINESSWIRE – Mar 6 – The Meet Group, a leading provider of interactive livestreaming solutions, will be taking part in two upcoming dating industry events. On Friday, March 6, 2020, the IDEA Summit and WOW (World Officers Weekend) will bring together some of the most influential CEOs in the dating industry, including The Meet Group's CEO, Geoff Cook, who will be discussing the company's plan to enhance authenticity through its upcoming AI-powered verification badge. The event, which is hosted by the Internet Dating Excellence Association, is sponsored by The Meet Group and will take place at Harvard Club New York. The Meet Group's Senior VP of Corporate Development, Blake Kuhre, will be speaking about live video and Video Platform as a Service during his presentation at Global Dating Insights' inaugural New York Conference.