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IAC/InterActive Moves Forward With Match Spinoff

IAC/InterActive Moves Forward With Match Spinoff

(Bloomberg) -- IAC/InterActive Corp. is moving forward with a spinoff of Match Group Inc. after turning the owner of the Tinder online dating app into one of the best-performing internet stocks.

IAC said Friday it formally recommended the move to a special committee of its board. The tax-free transaction would distribute shares of Match to IAC stockholders, formally separating the two companies. It would also collapse the dual-class common stock structure that has allowed IAC to maintain control.

Match has been one of the star performers in IAC’s portfolio of companies. The shares have gained more than sixfold since its initial public offering in 2015. In the second quarter, Match accounted for 41% of IAC’s total $1.19 billion in revenue.

IAC Chief Executive Officer Joey Levin said in August that he was considering a spinoff of Match as well as ANGI Homeservices Inc., the company’s other top money-maker. For now, ANGI will stay within IAC.

“We don’t currently expect to turn our attention to the question of a spin-off until a Match Group transaction has been completed,” Levin said in a statement.

To contact the reporter on this story: Erik Schatzker in New York at eschatzker@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jillian Ward at jward56@bloomberg.net, Molly Schuetz

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