IAC Inc (IAC)

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(PRNewsfoto/Match Group,IAC)

In the quarter century since Barry Diller took the helm of IAC—then a collection of television stations called Silver King Communications worth $250 million—the company has grown into 10 separate publicly-traded businesses, including Match Group. IAC and its progeny are collectively worth nearly $60 billion today.

The transaction allows a smaller, more nimble IAC to shape a new generation of category leaders—from both the seeds existing within IAC's portfolio and the pursuit of entirely new opportunities.

Match Group's combination of category leadership, growth, and cash flow is virtually unrivaled; as a standalone company Match Group now benefits from increased strategic flexibility, enhanced trading liquidity and the eligibility for index inclusion. With a market cap of $30 billion, Match Group is the largest business IAC has separated in its 25-year history. Since Match Group's initial public offering in 2015, the company has more than doubled subscribers and revenue. Match Group's flagship product, Tinder, is the highest grossing non-gaming app worldwide, with a global presence.

"This is just the largest transaction at the core of our strategy throughout these 25 years," said Barry Diller, Chairman and Senior Executive of IAC. "Be opportunistic, be balance sheet conservative, build up enterprises and when they deserve independence let them have it. Be a conglomerate and an anti-conglomerate, a business model that has been unique to us."

"Back to work again," said Joey Levin, CEO of IAC and Executive Chairman of Match Group, "this is the fun part."