Shares of Match Group Inc.
MTCH,
shot up 12.4% in premarket trading Tuesday, putting them on track for the biggest gain in 14 months, after The Wall Street Journal reported that Elliott Investment Management has built up a roughly 10% stake in the online-dating company. The rally puts the stock on track to open at the highest price seen during regular-session hours since Sept. 18. The WSJ report said Elliott, which has acquired about $1 billion worth of Match shares — Match’s market capitalization as Monday’s close was $10.3 billion — and plans to discuss with management way to turn the company around. That would make Elliott the second-biggest shareholder in Match, just behind Vanguard’s 11.4% stake, according to FactSet data. Match did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Match’s stock has shed 13.6% over the past 12 months through Monday, while the S&P 500
SPX,
has gained 22.4%.
