It is headquartered at World Headquarters, 555 West 18 th Street, New York, NY 10011 (U.S.A.) and its shares are traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the stock symbol IACI.
Match views the transaction as an opportunity to strengthen its partnership with Meetic and to align the two companies for even greater growth.
Match believes that the Offer provides an opportunity to deepen its relationship with Meetic for the benefit of all of Meetic’s customers and stakeholders.
The online personals business has become increasingly competitive over the last few years, with the emergence of new technologies, new means of communicating and reaching consumers and new entrants to local markets served by the Company.
Match views the struggles faced by Meetic to be similar to those faced by Match in the U.S. in 2008. As a result of the success that Match experienced in revitalizing its own growth trajectory in the U.S. beginning in 2009, Match believes it is uniquely positioned to leverage its own expertise and experiences to help rejuvenate a business that has not achieved the levels of growth that it had experienced historically.
With the extension of their partnership, Meetic and Match will be optimally positioned to continue delivering the customer service and product innovation that have been hallmarks of both companies and to pursue new market opportunities.
Meetic’s position as a leader in Europe and the fragmentation of the online dating market caused by the large number of new entrants have prevented Meetic’s core business from growing significantly during such period
The Offer is a logical step for Match to strengthen its position in Europe and reinforce its commitment to international growth. By combining Meetic’s strength in the European market with Match’s leading position in the online dating industry, Match will significantly expand its presence in the online dating and matchmaking market in Europe and consolidate its market-leading position worldwide.
On , the Match group contributed its European operations held in Match International Limited to Meetic in exchange for an approximate 27% stake in Meetic (6,094,334 shares of Meetic common stock), plus a promissory note which was subsequently paid in full in the fourth quarter of 2009.
Subsequently, Match announced on the formation of a joint venture between Match and Meetic, intended to provide personals services in certain countries in Latin America.
Finally, in late , Match made a strategic decision to initiate a tender offer for Meetic. In this context, on , Mr. Marc Simoncini entered into a binding agreement (the “Tender Commitment”) with Match Pegasus Limited to tender in the Offer 3,667,773 Company Shares, representing % of the total number of shares outstanding. On , Match announced its proposed tender offer for Meetic.
Given the ongoing globalization of social networking, including the online dating and matchmaking business, this transaction will offer Match and Meetic new growth opportunities by leveraging Match’s commitment to, and expertise in, product development, marketing and technology innovation on a global basis
Match intends to support Meetic in its domestic and international development, building on the expertise and competencies of Meetic’s management and employees, while leveraging Match’s industrial knowledge through Meetic’s local European management. This support may take the form of formal or informal consultancy arrangements, as well as increased oversight and direction through its representation on Meetic’s Board of Directors.
Match does not currently anticipate combining the Meetic operations with its own businesses and does not plan to initiate any restructuring of the workforce within the Meetic Group outside the ordinary course. In particular, Match intends to maintain Meetic’s operational headquarters’ location in France.
