Billionaire Diller, Match Ex-Board Beat Challenge to Spinoff (1)

Billionaire Barry Diller and former Match Group Inc. board members dodged litigation challenging the dating company’s spinoff from IAC/InterActive Corp., when a Delaware judge ruled Thursday that Diller’s conflicts of interest were excused by deal protections for minority investors.

Vice Chancellor Morgan T. Zurn dismissed the case, rejecting allegations that Diller loyalists engineered the deal as part of a scheme to extract $1.5 billion in cash from Match, leaving it saddled with debt and subject to their control.

Zurn, writing for Delaware’s Chancery Court, acknowledged the spinoff was a controller-led transaction giving Diller better terms than public investors, at ...