IAC (company)

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IAC/InterActiveCorp
Public
Traded as NASDAQ: IACI
Industry Internet
Founded 1995
Headquarters IAC Building
New York City, U.S.
Area served
 International
Key people
 Joey Levin
Chief Executive Officer
Products Interactive Online
Revenue Increase $3.11 billion (2014)
Increase $378.7 million (2014)
Increase $414.9 million (2014)
Total assets Increase $4.27 billion (2014)
Total equity Increase $1.99 billion (2014)
Number of employees
 5,000 (January 2015)
Website www.iac.com

IAC/InterActiveCorp (also known as IAC) is an American media and Internet company, with over 150 brands across 100 countries,[1] headquartered in New York City.[2] Joey Levin, who previously led the company's Search & Applications segment,[3] has been the company's Chief Executive Officer since June 2015.[4]

History

1980s and 1990s

IAC was incorporated in 1986 under the name Silver King Broadcasting Company, as a subsidiary of the Home Shopping Network. In 1992, Silver King was spun off to Home Shopping Network shareholders as a separately traded public company. In August 1995, Barry Diller bought a controlling stake in Silver King Communications, taking control of the television company as Chairman and CEO.[5] A year later, Silver King Communications and Home Shopping Network merged and acquired a third company, Savoy Pictures Entertainment. The three companies were combined to create HSN, Inc.[6]

HSN, Inc. acquired several assets in the late-1990s. In May 1997, the company acquired a controlling stake in Ticketmaster Group;[7] in February 1998, it acquired the majority of the TV assets from Universal Studios (including USA Networks, Sci-Fi Channel, and Universal Television's domestic production and distribution arms).[8] The company's name was changed to USA Networks, Inc. at this point, after the Universal deal was approved. Continuing its acquisition strategy, the company acquired Match.com in May 1999[9] and the Hotel Reservation Network in June 1999.[10]

2000s

In the early-2000s, USA Networks began divesting itself of its traditional television broadcasting and production units. In May 2001, Univision Communications acquired USA Broadcasting - a division of USA Networks including 13 fully owned stations.[11] The following year, 2002, Vivendi bought the rest of USA Networks' broadcast entertainment businesses, including the USA Network and Sci-Fi Channel.[12] This led to the creation of a new entity called Vivendi Universal Entertainment (Barry Diller became the CEO of the newly created company).[13] In the midst of this transition, USA Networks continued to build up its online portfolio. In July of 2001, the company entered the online travel business with its acquisition of Expedia,[14] followed the next year by an acquisition of Interval International.[15]

Following the shift in focus to online assets, the company changed its name to USA Interactive in May 2002; InterActiveCorp in June 2003; and finally to IAC/InterActiveCorp in July 2004.[16]

In August 2003, IAC acquired the online mortgage comparison site LendingTree,[17] and in September, the company added discount travel website HotWire to its growing list of acquisitions.[18] In October, Transat A.T. Inc. entered into an agreement to sell its French subsidiary Anyway.com to IAC, for an enterprise value of €53 million (approximately CAD$81.6 million, $62.7 million USD).[19]

In 2004 and 2005, IAC continued its growth through acquisition, adding assets including TripAdvisor,[20] ServiceMagic,[21] and AskJeeves.com.[22] It also launched Gifts.com during this period.[23] In August 2005, the company bundled together its travel-related sites, including Expedia, and spun them off as a new publicly traded company on the NASDAQ.[24] Additional acquisitions in 2006 included Shoebuy.com[25] and CollegeHumor.com.[26]

In May 2008, IAC and Ask.com acquired Lexico, the owner of Dictionary.com, Thesaurus.com, and Reference.com.[27] In August 2008, IAC spun off several of its businesses, including: Tree.com (NASDAQ: TREE), the Home Shopping Network, Ticketmaster, and Interval Leisure Group (NASDAQ: IILG).[28] 2009 saw the acquisition of Urbanspoon.com[29] and PeopleMedia,[30] and the launch of production company Notional.[31]

In July 2009, IAC partnered with Ben Silverman to create Electus, a company focused on multimedia production and online distribution.[32]

2010s

In 2010, IAC acquired dating site Singlesnet[33] and fitness site DailyBurn.[34] Later that year, Barry Diller stepped down as CEO of IAC.[35] In February 2011, IAC acquired the free-to-contact dating site, OkCupid, for $50 million.[36] In April 2011, IAC extended its deal with Google, originally worth $3.5 billion, to hand over all search advertising on Ask.com and other IAC search products through March 31, 2016.[37]

On February 14, 2012, Barry Diller introduced Aereo, an Internet television service. In March 2012 in New York City, Aereo started streaming all of the broadcast networks to smartphones, tablets and televisions with Internet capability.[38] On June 25, 2014, in a 6-3 Opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Aereo. The Court found that Aereo infringed upon the rights of copyright holders.[39]

On August 26, 2012, IAC acquired About.com from the New York Times.[40]

In January 2013, IAC acquired online tutoring firm Tutor.com.[41] On August 3, 2013, IAC sold Newsweek to the International Business Times on undisclosed terms.[42] In November 2013, IAC acquired Investopedia and PriceRunner from ValueClick.[43]

On December 22, 2013, IAC fired their Director of Corporate Communications, Justine Sacco after an AIDS joke she posted to Twitter went viral,[44] being re-tweeted and scorned around the world.[45] The incident became a byword for the need for people to be cautious about what they post on social media.[46]

In January 2014, IAC acquired a segment of ValueClick's business, including Investopedia and PriceRunner.[47] Later that year, in August, IAC acquired Ask.fm for an undisclosed sum.[48]

In January 2015, IAC sold Urbanspoon to Zomato for $52 million.[49]

In June 2015, IAC announced its intent to pursue an IPO of Match Group,[50] which officially filed documents for an initial public offering on October 16. [51] Shares of Match Group (MTCH) debuted on the Nasdaq on November 19, and finished that first day up 23% from the initial public offering price of $12.[52]

On July 14, 2015, the dating service PlentyOfFish was purchased for $575 million in cash to become a part of Match Group.[53]

On December 9, 2015, IAC announced the creation of IAC Publishing, a unit that combines The Daily Beast, About.com, Dictionary.com and Investopedia into a single operating group.[54]

Businesses

In the first quarter of 2014, IAC organized its businesses into five distinct segments for the purposes of financial reporting. Those segments are labelled by the company as "Personals", "Search & Applications", "Media", "Local" and "Other". Each business listed may have multiple brands connected to it.[55]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ "IAC to Buy Lexico to Boost Its Ask.com". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  28. ↑ "IAC: And Then There Were Five". Forbes. Retrieved June 13, 2010.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. ↑ Leena Rao, "IAC Asks For More Google, Please." Techcrunch, April 11, 2011. Retrieved April 11, 2011.
  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  39. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  40. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  41. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  42. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  43. ↑ ValueClick, Inc. Signs Definitive Agreement to Sell Owned & Operated Websites Segment
  44. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  45. ↑ O'Connell, Mark, "First Thought, Worst Thought", New Yorker, January 13, 2014
  46. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  47. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  48. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  49. ↑ http://www.vccircle.com/news/technology/2015/01/13/zomato-enters-us-purchase-urbanspoon-around-40-50m
  50. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  51. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  52. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  53. ↑ Bootstrapped dating site PlentyOfFish has fewer than 100 employees and Match just bought it for $575 million in cash. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
  54. ↑ IAC Places Next Bet on Digital Media. Retrieved 8 Jan 2016.
  55. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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