Tinder Looks To Set Date With Stock Market

Tinder's parent company Match Group Inc has said it plans to raise more than half a billion dollars from the NASDAQ (NasdaqGS: NDAQ - news) stock exchange.

Tinder is a dating app which lets users in 196 different countries swipe left or right on potential connections based on whether they like the look of their pictures or not.

The app receives 1.6 billion swipes per day delivering 26 million matches, and is said to result in more than 1.5 million first dates every single week.

Match, which also owns dating sites OKCupid and PlentyofFish, recorded revenue in excess of three quarters of a billion dollars for the first nine months of 2015.

The Dallas-based company said in a regulatory filing that it would sell 33.3m shares at $12 to $14 a piece, and would give the underwriting banks, J.P. Morgan (Other OTC: MGHL - news) , Allen & Co. and Bank of America Merrill Lynch, the option to buy a further 5 million shares.

This means the firm could raise over £350m, thereby valuing the company in excess of £2.5bn.

Match plans to use the cash from the listing to repay debt owed to IAC, its parent company.

IAC would retain control of more than 50% of voting rights after the IPO (Initial Public offering) under its ownership of Class B shares, which have 10 votes apiece.

Ross Williams, Founder and CEO of Europe’s largest privately owned dating and lifestyle company, Venntro Media Group said: "This IPO demonstrates the growing confidence in the online dating industry and the sheer growth of the sector.

"The UK online dating market alone is forecast to reach an estimated value of £225m by 2019 with approximately one in five adults having used an online dating site or app."

Last week Tinder announced it was making the biggest change to its algorithm since it launched which it claimed would lead the number of potential date matches to rise by 30%.

IAC shares have risen nearly 8% this year.