Angie’s List Turns Back On Acquisition

Angie’s List will be keeping its home services business in house.

The on-demand home services company announced yesterday (Nov. 17) that its board of directors has unanimously voted to reject a proposal from IAC/InterActiveCorp to acquire it for $512 million.

Scott Durchslag, Angie’s List president and chief executive officer, stated in a press release: “The Angie’s List Board and management team are united in our belief in Angie’s List and our market-leading platform. That IAC chose to announce its proposal on the same day as our public launch of LeadFeed is a testament to the strength of our evolving product and services offering. The board does not believe it is in the best interest of Angie’s List shareholders to rush to judgment and that doing so would be contrary to our fiduciary duties. The board believes that it should have the opportunity to fully evaluate our Profitable Growth Plan and should share that plan with shareholders before reaching a decision as to whether to engage in a transaction with IAC or any other party.”

Continued Durchslag: “The development of our Profitable Growth Plan is underway, as we discussed with our third quarter results, and we look forward to announcing the details of this plan next quarter at our Investor Day. The positive reception we are receiving from members and service providers to our new offerings gives us confidence that we are heading in the right direction. The market also appears to share our enthusiasm as the company’s stock price increased 11 percent on the day we announced our third quarter results and previewed some elements of our Profitable Growth Plan and has increased 27 percent from that day through market close on Nov. 11, prior to when IAC publicly announced its proposal.”

As expressed in the release, the Angie’s List board opted not to pursue IAC’s unsolicited offer for reasons including its determination that the transaction would not benefit shareholders and that IAC’s $8.75 per share cash proposal — which represented only a 10 percent premium at the time it was made (on Nov. 11) — undervalues the company and its prospects.