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Tinder, Match.com Owner to Look for Love on Wall Street

Tinder, Match.com Owner to Look for Love on Wall Street

By Agence France-Presse | Updated: 9 November 2015 19:32 IST

The company behind online dating services Tinder, Match and OkCupid notified US regulators on Friday that it plans to look for love from investors by going public on Wall Street.

The Match Group will seek to raise $100 million (roughly Rs. 647 crores) with an initial public offering of shares on the Nasdaq, trading under the symbol "MTCH," according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Match operates a portfolio of more than 45 brands, which also include Meetic, Twoo and Friendscout24, each of them designed "to increase our users' likelihood of finding a romantic connection," according to the filing.

Altogether, the company said it offers dating products in 38 languages in 190 countries, with approximately 59 million monthly users total.

Neither the number of shares, price or intended date of the IPO were available Friday.

Match reported in the filing that its revenue climbed from $713.4 million (roughly Rs. 4,616 crores) in the 2012 to $888.3 million (roughly Rs. 5,747 crores) last year, while net earnings rose from $90.3 million (roughly Rs. 584 crores) to $148.4 million (roughly Rs. 960 crores) in those years.

Match is a wholly owned subsidiary of IAC/InterActiveCorp, a US media and Internet giant.

Swiping right on acquisitions
Among Match's best-known products is Tinder, a smartphone application that lets people swipe through photos of prospective romantic partners within close proximity.

Tinder has gotten a reputation as a tool for spontaneous sexual encounters, an image that Match Group has railed against.

"Whether it's a good date, a meaningful relationship or an enduring marriage, romantic connectivity lifts the human spirit," Match Group said in describing its mission in the SEC filing.

The company was formed plenty of relationships of its own, as it has grown mainly through new acquisitions after being founded in 2009.

In July, Match announced a deal to buy Canadian online dating service PlentyOfFish Media for $575 million (roughly Rs. 3,720 crores).

"As more people than ever use more dating apps than ever with more frequency than ever, PlentyOfFish's addition both brings new members into our family of products and deepens the lifetime relationship we have with our users across our portfolio," Match chief executive Sam Yagan said at the time.

PlentyOfFish billed itself as an industry leader and expressed confidence that a marriage with Match would accelerate its growth.

The acquisition was expected to close by year's end, pending approval by regulators.

Aside from its dating businesses, Match also has a foot in the education space with its ownership of the test preparation and college advising company The Princeton Review

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