Tinder owner Match Group has approached smaller rival Meet Group, Bloomberg reported yesterday.
New Hope-based Meet Group’s (NASDAQ: MEET) shares rose by as much as 21% in New York trading Thursday, and closed Friday at $6.05, for a market cap of $464 million. Match, which is being spun off by IAC/InterActiveCorp, was up 12% at one point on the news yesterday. Its market cap is near $23 billion.
Meet was founded as MyYearbook in 2005 by then high school student Catherine Cook and her brothers, Dave and current CEO Geoff Cook . First Round Capital was an early investor. Meet Group has been smart in positioning itself as a steaming site for people to interact, making good niche acquisitions, and meeting most goals it sets for itself. Geoff Cook, who sold a startup to Thomson while still in college, is very capable. But its relatively small size in the market might raise questions about its future viability as a stand alone company.
Facebook entered the market last Fall with a new app, Facebook Dating..
The German broadcasster ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE was reported to be interested in acquiring Meet Group by Reuters in December.