By Carlos Bonachea
555 W. 18th St.
New York, NY 10011
Phone: 212-314-7300
Website: www.iac.com
IAC remains at the forefront of internet commerce, communication, and media by strategically managing the investment, acquisition, and sale of some of the worlds most innovative companies [5]. IAC began as Silver King Communications Inc., a television company led by Barry Diller, who previously was in charge of Fox Broadcasting as well as Paramount Pictures prior to that. [6]
IAC now boasts over 1.3 billion total monthly visits amongst it’s network of sites and controls over 150 brands and products all at the cutting edge of web commerce and modern living. IAC has spawned six independent publicly traded companies – Expedia, TripAdvisor, HSN, Tree, Interval, and Live Nation (formerly Ticketmaster). Simply put IAC is the 9th largest network in the world and one of Fortune’s most admired companies in the internet services sector. [5] [7]
From April 22 2013 to April 17, 2014 stock prices of IAC (IACI) have risen 55.2% from $44.25 a share to $68.67 a share, proving IAC’s value to it’s investors. [8]
2013 Q4 statements show that revenue for IAC is down 5% from 765.3M in Q4 2012, to 724.5M.
IAC saw a 48% adjusted EPS growth from 0.7 in Q4 2012 to 1.04 in Q4 2013.
IAC also has enjoyed and increase in adjusted net income of 38% from 66.2 in Q4 2012 to 91.1 in Q4 2013.
Thus IAC has now entered its 19th consecutive quarter of double-digit operating income before amortization growth.
Financial Statements courtesy of IAC’s public quarterly report [9].
Media
Vimeo is one of IAC’s hottest commodities and a worthy innovator in the realm of web video and user generated content. Vimeo currently has over 100 million unique monthly users and over 22 million register users which provide content. Vimeo is known to be the best video player “in the galaxy” which attracts some of the best independent filmmakers. Though Vimeo is within the media branch of IAC which accounts for a relatively small portion of revenue compared to ‘web search and applications’ or the Match group the media prospects of IAC prove to be some of the most innovative. [11]
As of March 18 2014, Vimeo has acquired ‘Cameo‘ a video making app which the leaders at Vimeo say is going to be independently run much like the recent acquisition of Echograph about a year prior. This is very much inline with the philosophy of supporting new ideas which is so close to the core ideals of IAC. [10]
Another company in the Media branch is CollegeHumor which, thought it does not directly create a majority portion of IAC’s revenue, it has a huge impact in pop culture and the multimedia habits of the 18-14 demographic. It draws over 100 million monthly video views and the number 9 most subscribed to channel on youtube. [12]
Match
The Match group of IAC is comprised of all the the websites and brands which deal with dating and matching people together. Match.com being the primary website but also including many other brands. Meetic, the European leader in online dating, Chemistry.com, okcupid, and tinder. There are also some brands which specialize in helping advertisers find their audience.
Match.com recently made an exclusive partnership with Major League Baseball to further find matches based on team preferences. This joint effort can mean serious revenue for the Match group in future quarters. [13]
IAC in an effort to restructure some of the company for unknown reasons recognized Greg Blatt as the new Chairman of the newly created Match Group, on the Board of directors as of December 19 2013. This strategic moves serves as an indicator of the companies success in the Match department.
IAC thus far has proven to be a very innovative company which has harnessed the reach of its network to self facilitate more growth across company and brand lines. This innovative approach is reshaping not only pop-culture and the way we access media but the daily lives of the average person. IAC will continue to shape the way the internet does business and the way people interact. With projected financial statement the decrease in operating costs will lead to a great deal of profit in the following quarters which will more than likely prompt another large media acquisition given the highly increased capital which IAC now has.
Sources
[1] IAC Online Press Kit RET: 4/13/2014
[2] Official IAC Website– Bio Page on Barry Diller – Photo credit: Michele Asselin RET: 4/13/2014
[3] Official IAC Website– Bio Page on Jeff Kip RET: 4/13/2014
[4] Official IAC Website– Bio Page on Victor Kaufman RET: 4/13/2014
[5] Official IAC Website– Overview of Brands RET: 4/14/2014
[6] Official IAC Website– Timeline of company progress, acquisitions and sales RET: 4/15/2014
[7] CNN Money– IAC’s ranking as one of the world’s most admired companies by Fortune RET: 4/15/2014
[8] Google Finance– IAC share value from 4/22/13 – 4/17/14 RET: 4/15/14
[9] IAC public quarterly report– RET: 4/15/2013
[10] Re/Code– Article by Peter Kafka on the aquisition of Cameo by IAC’s media company Vimeo; published March 18 2014; RET: 4/11/2014
[11] Official IAC Website– Vimeo brand profile and overview RET: 4/13/14
[12] USA Today– Match.com partnership with MLB RET: 4/14/14