Boulogne-Billancourt, February 4th, 2010
Meetic (FR0004063097 – MEET) and Match.com, an operating business of IAC (NASDAQ: IACI), two world leaders in online dating, announced today the signing of an agreement to create a joint venture for their development in Latin America.
Meetic and Match.com will contribute their respective properties in South America to the new joint venture: Meetic’s Brazilian site, ParPerfeito, and Match.com’s activities in other South and Latin American countries.
The new entity, which recorded combined revenue of €12 million in 2009, will benefit from the substantial growth prospects across these emerging countries. It will be the leader in online dating across South America and will benefit from the leadership position of Parperfeito in Brazil, which is complementary to Match.com’s positions in the other South and Latin American nations. Parperfeito’s managerial teams will play a key role in the development of this new entity. This strategic partnership is consistent with the rationale behind the acquisition of Match.com’s European activities by Meetic in 2009.
Financial terms
“Match.com and Meetic will each own 50 percent of the economic interest in the entity, and Match.com will control the new entity’s operations. Match.com will pay Meetic $3 million in cash at the closing, which is expected by March 15, 2010. Meetic’s participation in this new entity is subject to put-and-call rights that can be triggered beginning in the fourth year, whereby Match could purchase Meetic’s stake at fair market value at that time. An additional payment of $1.5 million could be triggered at that time.”
“The online dating market in Latin America is less mature than in North America and Europe, and we are confident that it will expand meaningfully over the next few years,” states Greg Blatt, CEO of Match.com. “By combining Parperfeito’s strength in the Brazilian market with Match.com’s presence in the rest of Latin America, we believe we’re best positioned to drive that expansion and create an asset of meaningful value across this region. The speed and quality of the integration of Match.com’s activities with those of Meetic, in Europe, make us confident that this collaboration in Latin America will be productive.”Marc Simoncini, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Meetic, concludes: “The potential of the market in Latin America led us to envisage the best possible combination between Parperfeito in Brazil and Match.com across the rest of Latin America. The pooling of our entities is the most efficient way to be able to fully benefit from the substantial growth potential this region offers. The quality of our relationship during the integration of Match.com’s European activities makes us totally confident that we will achieve our development plans.”
MEETIC was advised in this transaction by Messier Associes.
About Match.com
Since its creation in 1995, Match.com has pioneered online personals and continues to lead this exciting and evolving category after more than a decade. Throughout its 14-year history, Match.com has helped redefine the way people meet and fall in love. Match.com provides its customers with a rich tapestry of ethnicities, interests, goals, ambitions, quirks, looks and personalities from which to choose. Match.com operates subscription-based online dating sites in 25 countries, in 8 languages and spanning 5 continents. Match.com also powers online dating on MSN across Asia, Australia, the United States and Latin America. Match.com is an operating business of IAC.
About IAC
IAC operates more than 50 leading and diversified Internet businesses across 30 countries… our mission is to harness the power of interactivity to make daily life easier and more productive for people all over the world. To view a full list of the companies of IAC please visit our website at www.iac.com.