Diller Breaks Up The IAC/Interactive Empire (IACI)

IAC/Interactive (NASDAQ:IACI) has confirmed that the company will be split up into FIVE separate entities. 

The New IAC under Barry Diller will be comprised of:

• The businesses currently comprising its Media & Advertising sector: Ask.com, Bloglines, Citysearch, CursorMania, IAC Advertising Solutions, Evite, Excite, InsiderPages, iWon, My Fun Cards, My Way, Popular Screensavers, Smiley Central, Webfetti and Zwinky;
• Match.com, ServiceMagic, Shoebuy.com, Entertainment Publications and ReserveAmerica;
• Emerging Businesses sector: Black Web Enterprises, BustedTees, CollegeHumor, GarageGames, Gifts.com, Green.com, InstantAction, Primal Ventures, Pronto, Very Short List, Vimeo and 23/6;
• IAC’s current investments in Active.com, Brightcove, FiLife, Medem, MerchantCircle, OpenTable, Points.com and SHOP Channel.

The four NEW-CO operations will be spun-off as the following:

1. HSN, for retailing: HSN TV, hsn.com, and the Cornerstone Brands, Inc. portfolio of catalogs, web sites and retail locations, including Alsto’s, Ballard Designs, Frontgate, Garnet Hill, GrandinRoad, Improvements, Isabella Bird, Smith+Noble, The Territory Ahead and TravelSmith;
2. Ticketmaster, which will include its domestic and international operations including Admission.com, Biletix, Billetnet, BillettService, Cottonblend, Echomusic, Kartenhaus.de, Lippupalvelu, LiveDaily, TicketService, Tick Tack Ticket, TicketWeb and Ticnet.se, as well as Ticketmaster’s current investments in Frontline and iLike;
3. Interval International, which will also include CondoDirect, Resort Quest Hawaii and VacationSource.com;
4. LendingTree, which will also include RealEstate.com, Domania, GetSmart, Home Loan Center and iNest.

Here is the structure of the new leadership, although we have to check the order of these:

• Barry Diller will continue as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of IAC;
• Mindy Grossman will be CEO of HSN;
• Sean Moriarty will be CEO of TicketMaster;
• CD Davies will be CEO of LendingTree;
• Craig Nash will be CEO of Interval;
• Bret Violette will continue as President of RealEstate.com.

Upon completion of the transaction, IAC’s shareholders will own 100% of the equity in all five companies (IAC, HSN, Ticketmaster, Interval and LendingTree). The transaction is expected to be tax-free for both IAC and its shareholders.

This will be covered very soon as a "Special Situation" for subscrbibers of the 24/7 Wall St. Special Situation Investing Newsletter where we cover buyout candidates, break-up’s, spin-offs, reorganizations, backdoor investments, and more.  It’s also a safe bet that IAC and its subsidiary units will end up being covered in our "New Media/Old Media" subscriber letter.

Before IAC/Interactive shares were halted, the company had an $8.4 Billion market cap as of Friday’s $29.62 close.  The 52-week trading range is $25.08 to $40.99.  Shares are set to resume trade at 9:45 AM EST.

Jon C. Ogg
November 5, 2007