Last week, IAC (NASDAQ: IAC) announced its plans to spin off its stake in video platform Vimeo. After the transaction is complete, Vimeo will be an independent, public company. To move the company’s plans forward, IAC needs final approval from its board of directors and stockholders. IAC will hold a stockholder meeting during the first quarter of 2021 to get their approval of the transaction. If approved, the spin-off is expected to occur during the second quarter of next year.
IAC said the company will reclassify shares of IAC, with stockholders receiving a proportionate amount of Vimeo stock in exchange. For tax purposes, the transaction is expected to be tax-free to both IAC and its stockholders.
“The combination of Vimeo’s remarkable growth, solid leadership position, and enormous market opportunity have made clear its future,” said IAC CEO Joey Levin in the December 22 announcement. “It’s time for Vimeo to spread its wings and become a great independent public company.”
Benefits of spin off
One of the key benefits of spinning off video platform Vimeo is that the company can more effectively raise capital for future investments in products, technology, enterprise sales, international expansion and pursue strategic acquisitions.
Anjali Sud, CEO of Vimeo, commented on the transaction.
“We have long believed in the power of video to advance human expression and transform businesses. Today we have a rare opportunity to help every team and organization in the world integrate video throughout their operations, across all the ways they communicate and collaborate,” Sud said. “Our all-in-one solution radically lowers the barriers of time, cost, and complexity that previously made professional-quality video unattainable. We’re ready for this next chapter and focused on making video far easier and more effective than ever before.”
Started in 2004, Vimeo is a place for creatives to develop and publish professional-quality videos to share with others. The company has since evolved to support HD video and launch products including Vimeo Create and its For Hire marketplace.
Vimeo subscription plans
Vimeo users can join for free. Vimeo’s video platform also offers Plus, Pro, Business and Premium plans starting at $7 a month when billed annually, following a 30-day free trial.
Vimeo boasts the following statistics for its professional-quality video platform:
- Over 200 million users including creative professionals, entrepreneurs and companies of all sizes
- More than 1.5 million paid subscriptions
- Available in over 190 countries
- Over 300,000 new videos added to Vimeo daily
- Videos have over 100 billion views
This news comes about seven weeks after video platform Vimeo announced it had raised $150 million of equity from Thrive Capital and GIC. At the time of the announcement, Vimeo was valued at $2.75 billion. The company will use the new capital for research and development, sales and international expansion.
“Our goal is to radically simplify how businesses create and share video, with tools that are far more intuitive and cost effective than they’ve been historically. We’re energized to access additional capital to pursue this enormous opportunity with the full focus and scale of the Vimeo platform,” said Sud.
This arrangement is similar to IAC’s spin off of Match Group which closed in July 2020. Match Group had been under the IAC umbrella for 21 years.
IAC, a company that focuses on building successful brands, is not necessarily a household name, but many of its brands are. They include:
- Angie’s List
- Care.com
- Dot Dash
- Investopedia
- Home Advisor
- Serious Eats
- Daily Beast
- Brides
Insider Take
Axios explains that this type of spin off transaction is IAC’s business strategy. IAC helps companies it owns to grow with the goal of being able to spin them off, increasing their value and giving IAC a good return on the company’s investment. According to Axios, there are reports that IAC may be planning to spin off ANGI Homeservices, which includes Angie’s List, next.
