The conglomerate that owns Tinder, Match.com, and OKCupid is spinning off its online dating platforms into a separate company and taking it public.
IAC/Interactive, helmed by media magnate Barry Diller, jumped into the world of online dating as early as 1999 with the purchase of Match.com and has since cornered the market on helping people find love digitally.
The online dating unit, the Match Group, has so far scooped up the majority of online dating websites, including the generation-defining Tinder app, which lets users match with each other by swiping right on their phones. Tinder co-founder Sean Rad said this week Tinder gets 16,000 swipes a second and has reached 8 billion matches. (Though according to research from Globalwebindex, only 1% of global internet users are using Tinder on a monthly basis.)
The rest of Match Group’s stable includes OKCupid, Chemistry.com, HowAboutWe, speeddate.com, and Meetic, which means no matter which website you use in pursuit of love it’s likely IAC knows everything about what you are looking for in a partner. ”The dating industry has come a long way since its inception, but the category remains underpenetrated,” said Greg Blatt, chairman of The Match Group.
IAC said the Match Group would issue less than 20% of its common stock, with IAC keeping the rest of the shares. It said it expects the IPO would be completed by the end of the year.