IAC's Diller: Path's Clear for Spinoffs

SAN FRANCISCO -- Chief Executive Barry Diller of IAC/InterActive Corp.(IACI Quote) said he sees no more obstacles to impede the spin-offs of the Internet conglomerate.

In a conference call on Wednesday, Diller told analysts that IAC's board of directors had met on Monday and would likely meet one or two more times before moving ahead with plans to break up the company into five publicly-traded entities, to be completed by August.

"There's nothing in our process that will cause a delay," Diller said.

He added that the uncertainty surrounding a lawsuit filed by Liberty Media(LINTA Quote) has been lifted since a judge ruled in favor of IAC last month.

Liberty, which owns a 30% stake in the company and about 62% of its voting control through a second class of super-voting shares, had accused Diller and IAC's board of trying to dilute that stake by proposing the break-up and giving each spin-off a single-tier voting structure.

The judge agreed with IAC that it did not need Liberty's approval for the spin-offs. But he left open the possibility that Liberty could come back to sue IAC if its board agreed to restructure the company's voting power.

On Wednesday, Diller seemed confident that the spin-offs would go forward. He also minimized the chances of a much-discussed swap between one of IAC's businesses -- likely the Home Shopping Network -- and Liberty's stake.

"I think it's very unlikely one will occur," he said.

Diller's comments came as IAC reported its first-quarter earnings, which were in line with Wall Street estimates.