Nov 11 (Reuters) - IAC said it was exploring a

spin-off of its majority stake in home services unit Angi ( ANGI )

after the internet holding company beat third-quarter

revenue expectations on Monday thanks to steady ad demand for

its biggest business, Dotdash Meredith.

IAC owns an 85% stake in Angi ( ANGI ), which has a market value of

about $1.25 billion. Angi ( ANGI ) operates a digital platform that

connects home service professionals with consumers for tasks

ranging from repair work to remodeling of homes.

IAC bought 'Angie's List' in 2017 in a $500-million deal and

later merged it with 'HomeAdvisor' unit to create the company

re-branded in 2021 as Angi ( ANGI ).

Angi ( ANGI ) accounts for nearly a third of IAC's revenue, making it

the company's second-largest sales stream. But revenue at Angi ( ANGI )

has dropped for seven quarters as demand for its services waned

because of lower service requests and as it eliminates low

margin revenue streams that were acquired using paid marketing.

In the three months to September, Angi's ( ANGI ) revenue fell 16% to

$296.7 million.

Angi's ( ANGI ) potential split would be the tenth standalone public

company to fully spin-off from IAC, which has a history of

building businesses and later splitting them into separate

companies. It has spun off its stake in the likes of video

streaming platform Vimeo ( VMEO ) and dating apps operator Match

Group ( MTCH ).

"Angi's ( ANGI ) economic foundation continues to strengthen, and we

suspect that Angi's ( ANGI ) best shot at realizing that upside to the

benefit of our shareholders may be as a standalone company," IAC

CEO Joey Levin said.

IAC's revenue came in at $938.7 million in the third

quarter, above LSEG compiled analysts' estimates of $922.2

million.

Digital revenue at Dotdash Meredith, which owns brands

including Investopedia and the Food & Wine magazine, rose 16% to

$246.4 million - its biggest quarterly growth since the merger

between Dotdash and Meredith in 2021.

IAC said it would break out results for in-home care

services platform Care.com as its own reporting segment in the

fourth quarter.