Gee, I didn’t see this one coming. Acknowledging that he’s cobbled together the corporate equivalent of a Frankenstein’s monster, Barry Diller announced that IAC/InteractiveCorp will be split into five separate companies, in order to pull the old “unlock the entities’ stock value” maneuver.

Diller’s other motivation: To get John Malone off his back.

Here’s the shape of things to come:

When the transaction is complete, the five businesses will include:

* IAC — This unit will own Web sites such as Ask.com, Match.com and Excite as well as several other Internet properties including Bloglines, Citysearch, Gifts.com and CollegeHumor and investments in sites such as Active.com, Points.com and Brightcove.

* HSN — This unit will be comprised of IAC/InteractiveCorp’s current retailing businesses that include HSN TV, HSN.com and Cornerstone Brands as well as a portfolio of catalogs and retail stores.

* Ticketmaster — Includes properties such as Admission.com, Biletix, Billetnet, BillettService, LiveDaily, TicketService and TicketWeb as well as investments in Frontline and iLike.

* LendingTree — The parent’s financial arm will be spun off to include the LendingTree.com business as well as RealEstate.com, Domania, GetSmart, Home Loan Center and iNest.

* Interval International — This unit will also include CondoDirect, Resort Quest Hawaii and VacationSource.com.

It always amazed me that shareholders and partners went along with Diller’s years-long un-strategy of simply throwing money at anything that sorta/kinda hinted at online business. I guess nothing lasts forever. Let’s see if he can resist a repeat of the mish-mosh acquisition approach when he’s in charge of the reduced IAC remnant company.