Media

Will Match Price Its IPO Below the Expected Range?

Chris Lange

Published: November 18, 2015 4:45 pm

Last Updated: January 13, 2020 5:02 pm

Rumors were swirling late in Wednesday’s trading session surrounding the IPO market. Match and Square were the targets of this attention. Match Group is expected to set the price for its IPO on Wednesday evening for its market debut on Thursday. However there are pricing concerns for this online dating giant, and some think that this IPO will post on the lower end if not below the expected pricing range.

Previously, the company announced that it expects to price roughly 33.33 million shares in the range of $12 to $14, with an overallotment option for an additional 5 million shares. At the maximum price, the entire offering is valued up to $536.67 million. But with these concerns this value could very well sink.

Ultimately the company plans to use the proceeds from this offering to pay down its debt. A weaker price in the offering could very well be detrimental to Match’s outlook.

Match is the world’s leading provider of dating products. It operates a portfolio of over 45 brands, including Match, OkCupid, Tinder, Meetic, Twoo, OurTime and FriendScout24, each designed to increase users’ likelihood of finding a romantic connection. Through its portfolio of trusted brands, Match provides tailored products to meet the varying preferences of the users. In addition, the company has agreed to acquire Plentyoffish Media.

Match currently offers its dating products in 38 languages across over 190 countries, and it had approximately 59 million monthly active users and roughly 4.7 million paid members using its dating products as of the quarter ended September 30, 2015.

The target market includes all adults in North America, Western Europe and other select countries around the world who are not in a committed relationship and who have access to the Internet, which, based on a survey administered by Research Now in July 2015, Match estimates at approximately 511 million people. Consumer preferences within this population vary significantly, influenced in part by demographics, geography, religion and sensibility. As a result, the market for dating products is fragmented, and no single product has been able effectively to serve the dating category as a whole.

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