Meetic

Feb 23, 2023

Synopsis The talks primarily involve Shaadi.com and namesake brand Match.com. Match Group has a market cap of $11.85 billion and its brands include dating apps such as Tinder, Hinge, Match, Meetic, OKCupid, Plenty of Fish and OurTime. ETtech Match Group may buy out institutional shareholders besides investing in primary equity (Illustration by Rahul Awasthi) Nasdaq-listed American internet and technology company Match Group is in advanced discussions with Shaadi.com for a strategic investment in the Indian company, said people with knowledge of the matter. The talks primarily involve Shaadi.com and namesake brand Match.com. Match Group has a market cap of $11.85 billion and its brands include dating apps such as Tinder , Hinge , Match, Meetic, OKCupid, Plenty of Fish and OurTime. “Over the past one month, Match Group and Shaadi.com have had a few rounds of strategic discussions and are currently at the final stage of discussions where finances are being discussed,” said one of the persons cited above. Match Group may buy out institutional shareholders besides investing in primary equity, said another person. “The exact financial terms and arrangement are yet to be ascertained,” this person said. Shaadi.com founder Anupam Mittal didn’t respond to queries. Match Group said in an email that it does not comment on speculation. In an interview to a business daily in September last year, Mittal had said the company was planning to go public in the next fiscal year. Mittal is the founder and CEO of People Group, which runs the matchmaking site. Discover the stories of your interest Last month, Match Group announced a revamped executive leadership team under CEO Bernard Kim, with four key businesses: Tinder, Hinge, Asia and Evergreen, and Emerging. The group stated that the new organisational structure is designed to maximise profitability, enhance growth, streamline operations and prioritise new business opportunities. In a January 31 letter to shareholders, Match Group stated total revenue grew 7% to $3.2 billion in 2022, below its mid- to high-teens target. The company said 2022 fourth-quarter revenue was in line with expectations, down 2% over the year-earlier period to $786 million. “As we start 2023, the macroeconomic pressures we are seeing in our business thus far are in line with our expectations. We expect at least the first half of 2023 to remain challenging, but we expect to build momentum as the year progresses and remain confident in our ability to deliver on our full-year financial outlook,” the company stated. “For full year 2023, we reaffirm our focus on delivering 5% to 10% year-over-year growth, in both Match Group total revenue and Tinder direct revenue.” The company, which employs 2,000 people in 20 offices worldwide as per its website, said Tinder continues to be the world’s most popular app for meeting new people and is the company's largest revenue contributor. Hinge is the brightest spot in its portfolio and a key contributor to growth, driven by core English-speaking markets and popularity in new European markets, it said, adding that Asia represents an “enormous” opportunity. Don’t miss out on ET Prime stories! Get your daily dose of business updates on WhatsApp. click here! Thursday, 23 Feb, 2023 India faced challenges during the Covid-19 pandemic but has recovered “strongly” and can achieve 8% growth through a stronger private sector, land and agriculture reforms, and ensuring credit gets to small enterprises, among others, said David Malpass, president of the World Bank.