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Barry Diller's conglomerate IAC/InterActiveCorp. (IACI) will spin off four of its divisions into public companies, bringing the total to five, including the parent company, which will remain in Diller's hands.

The biggest beneficiary of the move will be John Malone and Liberty Media (LINTA), which has been Diller's and IAC's largest backer.

The four companies being spun off will be Interval, HSN home-shopping network, Ticketmaster and LendingTree.

Diller, during the existing agreement with Malone and Liberty, was given a proxy vote by Liberty to vote its shares, which will probably change some under the spin off, with Diller retaining the vote with IACI, and possibly another one of the companies spun off, with Liberty getting voting control of the other companies. The existing proxy doesn't look like it automatically extends to the companies that will be spun off.

The overall purpose of the move is for IACI to focus on the faster-growing Internet businesses.

Another reason for the move, according to Diller, is that "while we've created a lot of value, I've always believed our complexity and many mouthfuls of sentences to explain who we are and what our strategy is have hampered clarity and understanding with all our constituencies, particularly investors.

"Each of these spun-off businesses is in fact a distinct business sector, and each will benefit from standing on its own, with its own capital structure, its own currency which will enhance its ability to attract and retain superior talent and make acquisitions, and a focused story investors can clearly understand and buy into."

This may all be true, but other conglomerates aren't really understood by their investors, and they haven't struggled with it because they've performed good. This is really about performance and shareholder value, and it hasn't done good for them. Last week IAC reported a 4.2 percent decrease in net income for the third quarter.

Still, there are some pieces here that could do good over the long term, like their LendingTree unit, which has suffered along with all the mortgage and housing industry. Once the industry turns around, they should too.

Dill will retain his position at IAC as president and CEO of the company, as well as the rest of the heads of the companies being spun off.

Shareholders in IAC will hold their shares in the five companies after the changes are made.

In related news, IAC has also secured a five-year deal with Google (GOOG) which will allow the search giant to sell ads on Ask.com, and other IAC properties also.