IAC to Spin Off Interval International

[EZ-ED]

Interval International to be spun off

New York-based IAC said its HSN home shopping network, Ticketmaster ticketing service, Interval time-share business and LendingTree mortgage referral units would be spun off.

You can read about it here.

I wonder how this will impact II?

 

["Roger"]

Interesting...

I know that this is not what you were asking (you were more interested in how the company would be run), but one impact is that, if the company becomes a stand alone, they will have to be more forthcoming reporting the financials publicly. Currently, it is easier to get information on RCI.

 

[EZ-ED]

A bit more detail on the breakup here.

 

[ricoba]

I saw Barry Diller announcing this today. He will oversee the internet division.

HSN, Ticketmaster, Lending Tree, Interval Int, will be stand alone divisions.

Call me skeptical, but I think the big play here is to "unload" Lending Tree to get a better corporate rate of return.

 

[FredaS]

This is definetly an interesting story.. I will be interested in watching how it plays out.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

IAC Announces Plan to Spin Off HSN, Ticketmaster, Interval and LendingTree as Four Publicly Traded Companies

NEW YORK, Nov. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- IAC announced today that its Board of Directors has approved a plan to separate IAC into five publicly traded companies:

-- IAC, which will include:

-- 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;
-- The businesses currently comprising its 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.
​

-- HSN, which will include the primary businesses currently comprising
IAC's Retailing segment, including 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;

-- 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;

-- Interval International, which will also include CondoDirect, Resort
Quest Hawaii and VacationSource.com;

-- LendingTree, which will also include RealEstate.com, Domania, GetSmart,
Home Loan Center and iNest.​

"We've been a complex enterprise almost from the very beginning 12 years ago, with hundreds of transactions over those years. And while we've created a lot of value, I've always believed our complexity and many mouthfuls of sentences to explain who we are and what our strategy is have hampered clarity and understanding with all our constituencies, particularly investors," said Barry Diller, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of IAC. "One of the reasons we've stayed with some of our more transactional businesses is that we needed their earnings to allow us to invest in emerging Internet businesses. Now that we have real scale in the pure Internet units, it makes nothing but sense to me to reorganize the whole. Each of these spun-off businesses is in fact a distinct business sector, and each will benefit from standing on its own, with its own capital structure, its own currency which will enhance its ability to attract and retain superior talent and make acquisitions, and a focused story investors can clearly understand and buy into:

 

[PA-]

I expect II will get eaten up by Wyndham or a similar outfit.

 

[Jya-Ning]

I thought CD (Wyndham's prior life) sold II to IAC.

Jya-Ning

 

["Roger"]

There is also a thread about this in the TUG Lounge.

 

[littlestar]

I expect II will get eaten up by Wyndham or a similar outfit.

With Hyatt, Disney, Marriott, Westin (big name brands trading through II) it seems like Wyndham buying II would be kind of a conflict (since Wyndham is in bed with RCI and a vacation ownership giant themselves).

I really like II and I don't want it to change. They have been great to deal with when I call or need anything (I'm always connected to a rep at the Marriott desk). I hope it doesn't go downhill like RCI did (when Crystal Dehaan sold RCI).

 

[Carolinian]

The anti-trust boys did not approve of RCI and II under common ownership in the past, and I expect that would continue to be their position.

While it would be better if II were spun off as a completely independent company and not joined with any entity that involves rentals, one has to remember that II, while following RCI's path to a degree into rentals, has not gone hog wild in rentals like RCI has. Hopefully, they will continue to resist that temptation.