Knot It

By Rick Aristotle Munarriz | More Articles
June 16, 2011 | Comments (1)

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The Knot (Nasdaq: KNOT ) may not be getting married, but it's still going to go for a game change.

The company is changing its name to XO Group, reflecting its portfolio of lifestyle websites that goes beyond its wedding-planning TheKnot.com hub. The Knot, after all, watches over TheBump.com for expectant mothers and TheNest.com for newlyweds.

The Knot will also be taking its new name -- and new XOXO ticker symbol -- to the New York Stock Exchange. Yes, there are more and more four-lettered NYSE stocks these days.

Is this also an admission that it's nowhere close to getting hitched?

Merriman Capital issued a research note last fall, suggesting that Disney (NYSE: DIS ) or USA Today parent Gannett (NYSE: GCI ) would make ideal buyers.

Those are certainly worthy suitors. Gannett wouldn't mind some more dot-com sex appeal to offset the meandering ways of print publishing. Disney's family entertainment dominance would take over where The Bump leaves off.

I offered up three other feasible suitors at the time. They still make sense.

Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO ) -- The company has the cash to acquire growth. The Knot's juicy target audience would also deliver healthier ad rates.
IAC (Nasdaq: IACI ) -- The Knot's lifestyle brands would fit well with IAC dating sites Match.com and Chemistry.com. Newlyweds in need of contracting help or home repairs on their new digs could lean on Service Magic's referral service.
Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (NYSE: MSO ) -- Stewart's site has always been popular for wedding-related content and floral arrangements.

It's not as if The Knot needs to get hitched. It is certainly not asking gentleman callers to begin lining up on its porch. If anything, this name and exchange shift indicates that The Knot -- and come June 27, XO Group -- is hunkering down for the long haul of spinster-hood.

There's no shame in being an old maid. In fact, it may be The Knot's next lifestyle website launch.

Do you think The Knot will be acquired within the next year? Share your thoughts in the comment box below.

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The Motley Fool owns shares of Yahoo!. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Yahoo! and Walt Disney. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz got married years before TheKnot.com was around and he regrets that. He could have had a punctual person working the video camera that day. He does not own shares in any of the companies in this story, except for Disney. He is also part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early.

Read/Post Comments (1) | Recommend This Article (1)

Comments from our Foolish Readers

Help us keep this a respectfully Foolish area! This is a place for our readers to discuss, debate, and learn more about the Foolish investing topic you read about above. Help us keep it clean and safe. If you believe a comment is abusive or otherwise violates our Fool's Rules, please report it via the Report this Comment icon found on every comment.

Report this Comment On June 17, 2011, at 2:11 AM, billwoodsa wrote:

Several times I've thought about selling my small investment in KNOT until I look at the cash/debt lines on the balance sheet. Clearly, it has weathered the storms and still has a chunk of change and no debt. It can afford to be creative. If that attracts an offer, great. If it doesn't, just keep making a profit for us.
I'm surprised that it hasn't received an offer...except that the M and A market just isn't right yet. Like popping the question...the timing has to be right.
In the meantime, KNOT seems to be able to live on its own when lots of other internet companies have cracked up. Even some that were acquired caused their suitors to wish they hadn't tied the knot. (Sorry, I had to write that.)
I wrote years ago that people will still get married and things will eventually turn around. The same applies to having babies and building a nest. It's going to happen and why not be there to provide the information.

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