Fil-Am founded Care.com bought for $500M by media giant IAC

Sheila Lirio Marcelo founded Care.com in Waltham, Massachusetts in 2007. CONTRIBUTED

WALTHAM, Massachusetts – Filipina American-founded Care.com, the world’s largest online marketplace for finding and managing family care, will be acquired by American-holding company IAC, both companies announced on Friday, December 20.

The two companies have entered into a definitive agreement in which IAC will acquire Care.com for $15.00 per share in an all-cash transaction representing approximately $500 million of enterprise value.

Founded by Sheila Lirio Marcelo in 2007, Waltham, Massachusetts-based Care.com helps individuals find babysitters, housekeepers, tutors and caregivers for seniors and pets.

The idea came about after Marcelo experienced trouble finding childcare help for her first child as well as care for her father when he had a heart attack while caring for her second child.

The website became a public company in January 2014, and has several offices in cities like Berlin, San Francisco and Austin.

As part of the agreement, Tim Allen, an executive at IAC, will succeed Marcelo, Care.com’s founder, longtime chairwoman and CEO. Marcelo had said earlier this year that she intended to leave the role soon.

“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.

With more than 1.5 million successful matches made since its inception and 374,000 paying families as of Q3 2019, Care.com is the leading global platform for matching families with caregivers in the rapidly growing but highly fragmented market for family care, sized in excess of $300 billion in the U.S. alone.

“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.”

Marcelo added, “Now, we’re bringing together the world’s largest marketplace for care with the leader in scaling and growing marketplace businesses. We are excited to work with Tim and IAC’s leadership and believe this transaction will deliver value to all our stakeholders.”

With this acquisition, New York-based IAC — which owns several internet-based brands offering travel, dating and home services, such as Expedia, Ask.com, Match.com, OkCupid and Vimeo, across 100 countries — will gain a foothold in a market new to the company and will invest to accelerate Care.com’s growth across its core categories (child and senior care) with the opportunity to further extend its platform into adjacent areas, such as pet and home care.