Grindr shares rose as much as 11% on Monday afternoon after Semafor reported that shareholders are considering taking the company private in a deal that would value the LGBTQ dating app at $3 billion.
Key data
Billionaire Raymond Zage and James Lu, Grindr’s majority shareholders, are seeking to take the company private after some of their shares, almost all of which they had pledged for personal loans, were seized and sold by private lender Temasek.
The duo, who together own more than 60% of Grindr, are now in a “precarious personal financial position,” Semafor reported, and are negotiating a purchase price of up to $15 per share, which would value the company at around $3 billion.
Zage and Lu are reportedly in talks to obtain debt financing from Fortress Investment Group, a company co-founded by billionaire asset manager and former BlackRock partner Wes Edens.
Shares were trading at $13.18 shortly after 1:45 p.m. EDT on Monday, up 10.2% on the day.
More context: Dating app Grindr has nine chief financial officers
Key background
Grindr launched in 2009 as one of the first location-based dating apps for gay men and has since become the most popular LGBTQ+ mobile app in the world. It was founded by Israeli-American tech entrepreneur Joel Simkhai, who sold a majority stake to Chinese firm Kunlun Tech in 2016. Kunlun later acquired the rest of the company in 2018, but was forced by the US government to sell it to an investment group after national security concerns were raised over data and privacy. US company San Vicente Acquisition LLC bought Grindr in 2020 for approximately $608 million and went public in a $2.1 billion SPAC deal in 2022.
large number
Almost 15 million. That’s how many monthly active users Grindr has, according to the company, which calls itself “the global gayborhood in your pocket.”
Forbes Rating
Wesley Edens has an estimated net worth of $2.3 billion and is ranked 1,670th richest person in the world. He co-founded the asset manager Fortress Investment Group and became a billionaire when it went public in 2007. He is currently CEO of New Fortress Energy, a publicly traded liquefied natural gas company, and co-owner of the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks, Premier League soccer team Aston Villa, and soccer club Vitoria Club Sport. Portuguese. George Raymond Zage III has an estimated net worth of $1.4 billion and is ranked 2,557 on the Forbes billionaires list. He is the founder and CEO of Singapore-based firm Tiga Investments, and most of his wealth comes from his stake in Grindr.
This article was originally published by Forbes US
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