Will stock market swipe right on Tinder? Match Group files bid to IPO

Online dating is big business – but just how big? Well, the father of all cyber-cupids, Match Group, has filed its paperwork to go public.

The group, which includes old gent of the online dating scene Match.com as well as OKCupid and hookup app Tinder, is expecting to make just over $1bn in revenue this year.

According to copious figures submitted to US financial regulator the SEC, the company has a profit margin between 26 and 30 per cent, and derives most of its money from North America, although more money in coming in from outside the US each year.

The biz has no less that 45 different online dating brands, from the famous Match.com to mobile poster-child Tinder to some you've probably never heard of including Meetic, Twoo, OurTime and FriendScout24.

"Establishing a romantic connection is a fundamental human need," the company lovingly tells the financial watchdog. "Whether it's a good date, a meaningful relationship or an enduring marriage, romantic connectivity lifts the human spirit. Our mission is to increase romantic connectivity worldwide."

It forgot to add "and make a ton of money from lonely and horny people." The group has 59 million active users in more than 190 countries, and of them 4.7 million pay to get access to other people's vitals.

The company has stuck in a placeholder figure of $100m for the IPO which will jump as it draws closer to actually going public. As for what it plans to do with the money, it lists: put everything mobile, expand its brands still further, figure out how to include more advertising, and get more people signing up.

Among its biggest concerns for the future of the business? Cyberattacks and the fact that people are using email less and less these days. Sadly, it's not worried about the number of lonely and desperate people going down. Such is the human condition.

Match Group will trade as MTCH when it eventually debuts on the stock market. ®