IAC To Buy Angie's List For $8.50/share, To Combine It With HomeAdvisor

IAC Corp. late Monday confirmed it entered a deal to buy Angie's List Inc. for $8.50 a share, valuing Angie's List at around $505 million, and said it will combine Angie's List with its HomeAdvisor site to form a new publicly traded company to be called ANGI Homeservices Inc. The business will maintain both Angie's List and HomeAdvisor brands, said IAC, the company behind sites such as Investopedia and Vimeo. The deal has been approved by the companies' boards and it is expected to close in the fourth quarter, it said in a statement. It's the 10th publicly traded company to emerge from IAC, and the company will own 87% to 90% of the equity value of the newly created company. HomeAdvisor Chief Executive Chris Terrill will lead ANGI Homeservices, and the new company's headquarters will remain in HomeAdvisor's Golden, Colo. Angie's List co-founder Angie Hicks is expected to join the board of directors of the new company. Management expects $100 million to $250 million in synergies, IAC said. Angie's List shares rose more than 40% in late trading, while IAC shares were up 1%. Angie's List stock has traded as low as $5.22 in the past year. It priced its initial public offering at $13 in November 2011. The company said last year it was looking for a buyer, and in the fall of 2015 rejected an unsolicited buyout from IAC that valued the company around $512 million.