The company behind Expedia and Match.com is buying the child and adult care referral site, Care.com, for $500 million dollars, reports the Inquirer.
Sheila Lirio Marcelo founded Care.com in 2007 after expressing frustration about the difficulty in finding child care as well as for her ailing father.
“Since our founding 13 years ago, we’ve delivered on our mission to help millions of people find affordable, high-quality care and caregivers find meaningful work,” Marcelo said in a statement.
Marcelo took her company public in 2014, becoming part of a select group of women CEOs to do so. Just 3 percent of companies which went public between 1996 and 2013 have been headed by women.
According to the Motley Fool, Care.com hit a high of over $25 a share in March, but the stock dipped to a low of $7.61 in August following a negative report from the Wall Street Journal. The report questioned whether Care.com had been doing enough to screen care providers who used the site to find new clients. The newspaper reported several criminals used the site to find new business and to commit crimes against both children and the elderly.
“Family care is exciting new territory for us — and an accelerating market as demand for both child and senior care intensifies worldwide,” said IAC CEO Joey Levin in a statement. “The Care.com team has built a trusted brand and marketplace for families all over the world. We like marketplace businesses and this is one in a category we think has incredible potential.”
Tim Allen, an executive at IAC, will succeed Marcelo as chair and CEO.
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