IAC explores Angi spin-off as Barry Diller media group slims down

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Barry Diller’s IAC is exploring a spin-off of home services marketplace Angi, as the billionaire magnate’s holding company looks to get back to basics with a focus on online media and gaming.

IAC said on Monday it was weighing the possibility of spinning off its 85 per cent stake in Angi, a nearly 30-year old brand launched in the dotcom era as Angie’s List to connect customers with plumbers, roofers and other tradespeople.

The group was also open to selling other assets, chief executive Joey Levin said in an interview.

The potential deal would continue IAC’s evolution into a smaller, leaner company following a flurry of spin-offs of companies such as the dating app group Match and the online video platform Vimeo. 

The separately listed Angi, formed after IAC merged Angie’s List with HomeAdvisor seven years ago and rebranded two years ago, makes up about a third of the digital media holding company’s revenue.

The online marketplace has suffered as tradespeople have cut back on advertising spending, cutting its market value by almost 85 per cent since the peak of the pandemic to $1.3bn. Angi’s revenue fell 16 per cent to $296mn in the third quarter, it reported on Monday. 

But industry analysts said Angi, which appointed longtime executive Jeff Kip as chief executive in April, has succeeded in shifting its focus to profitability over growth. Angi reported net income of $35.2mn in the third quarter and earnings before tax and depreciation were up 27 per cent on an adjusted basis over the same period of last year.

A spin-off of Angi, IAC’s second attempt in five years, could come as soon as the second quarter. Digital media publisher Dotdash Meredith and online gaming and hospitality-focused MGM Resorts would remain at the core of IAC in the event of a spin, according to a letter to shareholders seen by the Financial Times.

“We have spun off businesses when they are growing revenue tremendously, and we have spun off businesses when they are shrinking,” Levin said in an interview. “I do think our desire at IAC is to focus on other businesses right now.” 

IAC, chaired by Diller, owns majority and minority stakes in dozens of digital media businesses, from a stake in car sharing platform Turo to full ownership of digital media outlet The Daily Beast.