Match.com IPO Price Range and Other Key Facts About the Stock (Nasdaq: MTCH)

match.comThe Match.com IPO price range was set at $12 to $14 a share this morning. The company has also announced it will list on the Nasdaq under the ticker "MTCH."

The deal is one of the most talked-about IPOs of the year. Match Group Inc. (Nasdaq: MTCH) is going public at a time when the online dating market is booming. Currently, the company targets a growing demographic of about 511 million people.

With the Match.com IPO price range officially announced, here's a comprehensive breakdown of the deal - including whether or not you should invest in MTCH stock when it hits the market...

Your Match.com IPO Questions Answered

When is the Match.com IPO date?

Shares of Match Group will price during the week of Nov. 16. MTCH stock will start trading the morning after the IPO prices.

How much money will the Match.com IPO raise?

According to Renaissance Capital, a manager of IPO-focused ETFs, the company will sell 33.3 million shares. At the high end of the Match.com IPO price range, the deal will generate $433 million.

The deal is a spin-off of IAC/InterActiveCorp (Nasdaq: IACI), which owns a number of websites, including Vimeo and The Daily Beast. Following the IPO, IAC will own all outstanding shares of Class B stock. That means IAC will have the most voting power on matters like the election of board members and dividend policy.

Who are the Match.com IPO underwriters?

The joint underwriters for the deal are JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), Allen & Company, BofA Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB), BMO Capital Markets, Barclays Plc. (NYSE ADR: BCS), and BNP Paribas.

What is the Match.com valuation?

After the IPO, Match Group will command a $3.2 billion valuation. That's higher than Chinese dating app Momo Inc.'s (Nasdaq ADR: MOMO) $2.7 billion pre-IPO valuation.

What kind of company is Match Group?

Match Group is the largest division of IAC and owns 45 dating and educational services. These include Match.com, Tinder, OkCupid, The Princeton Review, and Tutor.com. Since 2009, Match has acquired 25 different brands for a total cost of $1.3 billion. It plans to close its $575 million acquisition of dating site Plenty of Fish by the end of the year.

As the largest online dating conglomerate in the United States, the company will keep targeting a burgeoning demographic. According to its IPO filing, Match targets "adults in North America, Western Europe and other select countries around the world who are not in a committed relationship and who have access to the Internet." As of Sept. 30, Match's dating sites attract 59 million monthly active users and 4.7 million paid members.

Match Group is also expanding its mobile customer base. The company reported 68% of new registrations came from a mobile device during the first half of 2015.

"We are currently allocating resources to more rapidly increase our mobile development, which we believe represents a significant growth opportunity for our business," the Match.com IPO filing stated.

How much money does Match.com make?

match ipoMatch's top and bottom line numbers have grown significantly in recent years.

It posted $888.2 million in revenue last year, up 10.6% from 2013. It saw a 64% increase in profit between 2012 and 2014 and is one of the few Internet-based companies to be profitable before going public.

Despite its profitability, the company said it doesn't expect to pay dividends anytime soon. It will instead use earnings to grow the company. An undisclosed portion of the IPO proceeds will be used to pay back debt owed to IAC.

What are the risks of the Match.com IPO?

One risk is how other online dating companies have struggled to find success on Wall Street recently. Momo stock is down 16% in the last three months. San Francisco-based dating platform Zoosk scrapped its IPO plans back in May due to "unfavorable market conditions."

But the most important risk for the company is its defense against cyberattacks...

Dating sites have become a popular target among hackers following infidelity website Ashley Madison's data breach in July. The attack revealed the names, email addresses, and credit card details of the site's users.

"We are frequently under attack by perpetrators of random or targeted malicious technology-related events," the IPO filing said.

Now that we know all the details of the Match.com IPO, the biggest question is...

Should I buy Match.com stock?

With its strong revenue growth and dominant position in the online dating market, Match stock could be a strong investment down the road.

But we advise waiting until after the Match.com IPO to consider buying shares of the company. That's because buying stocks right after they debut is risky for retail investors.

You see, IPOs only benefit institutional investors willing to buy large quantities of a stock before it starts trading. These "insiders" send the stock soaring on its first day, which leads investors to think they can capture most of these profits if they jump in right away.

Frequently, new investors will rush into a new stock following an IPO, which drives the share price higher. But those investors are buying in at an inflated first-day price. They're also missing out on the gains the Wall Street insiders already snagged.

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When the price settles back down after the IPO, retail investors who got in late are looking at a loss. This disadvantage can cause massive losses for traders like us who aren't in the insiders club.

"Today, IPOs are little more than a get-rich-quick scheme that's so heavily stacked against you that it makes the house odds in Vegas seem downright conservative," said Money Morning Chief Investment Strategist Keith Fitz-Gerald. "I say that because you are literally the last in a long line of people who are going to profit from the IPO process."

The Bottom Line: The Match.com IPO is set to be the most successful online dating IPO in recent years. Although the company boasts profitability and market dominance, we advise waiting at least two quarters until the IPO frenzy wears off. That way you can safely invest in MTCH stock once the volatility eases.

Alex McGuire is an associate editor for Money Morning who writes about upcoming IPOs. Follow him on Twitter for all of the biggest Match.com IPO updates.

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