The board of IAC/InterActiveCorp has approved a plan to separate IAC into two publicly traded companies.
One company, Expedia, will include the domestic and international operations associated with Expedia.com, Hotels.com, Hotwire, TravelNow.com, Activity World, HotelDiscount.com, Condosaver.com, AllLuxuryHotels.com, Anyway.com, eLong, TV Travel Shop, Expedia Corporate Travel, Classic Custom Vacations, and TripAdvisor.
The other, IAC, will encompass the domestic and international operations associated with IAC’s ticketing business, including Ticketmaster, ReserveAmerica, TicketWeb and MuseumTix.com; the company’s electronic retailing business, including HSN, HSN.com, HSE 24, America’s Store, Improvements, and 9Live; financial services and real estate operations, including LendingTree, RealEstate.com, GetSmart, iNest, and Domania.
Also included in IAC will be local and media services, including Citysearch, ServiceMagic, Entertainment Publications, and Evite; personals related companies, including Match.com and uDate; and teleservices firms, including Precision Response Corporation, Access Direct, and Hancock Information Group; and Interval International.
Barry Diller will remain as chairman and CEO of IAC, and will also serve as chairman of Expedia and its senior executive. Dara Khosrowshahi, who the company previously named become president and CEO of IAC Travel, will serve as CEO of Expedia. Victor Kaufman will serve as vice chairman of both IAC and Expedia.
The transaction is anticipated to take the form of a reclassification of IAC shares, with the holders of IAC stock receiving a proportionate amount of Expedia stock in a tax-free transaction.
In a letter to shareholders, Diller said the decision to split the companies was “entirely elective. There is nothing else that pushed us, no transaction, no inherent worry that led us to take this course at this time.”
IAC’s success in the travel arena led the public to see the company solely as a travel, said Diller. He added this perception could serve a hindrance to growth through acquisition because non-travel companies “generally don’t want to accept what they view as a travel stock.”
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