INVESTORS - Dec 12 - Owners of Match Group stock may have wondered why the company announced a special dividend in October. IAC could be stockpiling cash for a major acquisition, says Brent Thill, analyst at Jefferies. IAC, which owns 80% of Match, took in $440M of the $560M special dividend, analysts say. "With an ~$3B in cash by year-end 2019 and a history of utilizing cash and stock in past deals, IAC has the capacity for larger-scale M&A.," Thill said in a report published on Wednesday. "CEO Joey Levin recently stated in an interview that he believes IAC can digest close to a $5B deal."
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