Fenix International, owner of Onlyfans, is in negotiations to sell the company to an investment group with an assessment of about 8,000 million dollars, according to Reuters three sources familiar with the matter.
The group is led by Forest Road Company, an investment firm based in Los Angeles, according to the sources. The agency could not identify group investors.
It has not previously been informed about the group of investors or the current value of the agreement.
Onlyfans, whose popularity shot during the Covid-19 pandemic, is known as an online platform that allows pornography creators to charge their subscribers for the content. Onlyfans takes 20% of creators’ profits.
In the fiscal year that ended in November 2023, the company generated 6.6 billion dollars in income, according to a report presented to British regulators, that represents an increase with respect to the 375 million dollars of 2020, and this rapid growth has attracted the interest of investors.
Lee: Napster has returned: a mysterious emerging company of 15,000 million pesos is renewed as an AI company
Forest Road executives were part of a special purpose acquisition company that was in conversations to take over onlyfans in 2022, according to sources and presentations before the United States Stock Exchange and Securities Commission.
Onlyfans and Forest Road declined to comment.
One of the three sources and another source familiar with the sales negotiations said that Fenix International is also in conversations with other possible suitors.
The London -based company has aroused the interest of several suitors in recent months.
The conversations have been maintained at least since March, according to the sources. Three of them indicated that an agreement could be reached in one or two weeks. The sources also warned that there was no certainty that an agreement was reached and requested anonymity waiting for an official announcement.
An initial public offer is also being considered, three of the sources said.
Lee: Amazon investors reject all shareholders’ proposals
The only shareholder of the company is Leonid Radvinsky, a Ukrainian-American whose location could not be confirmed. He bought Onlyfans in 2018 and has paid at least one billion dollars in dividends in the last three years, according to British documents.
Last year, Reuters published a series of Investigation on Onlyfans who documented complaints in the US police and judicial records of which child sexual abuse and non -consensual pornography has appeared on the site since 2019. The series also identified cases of sexual traffickers who use the platform to abuse and exploit women.
Pornography makes Onlyfans untouchable for many large banks and investors, sources told Reuters, because due diligence could find illegal content as material of child sexual abuse, victims of trafficking and non -consented pornography.
The New York Post reported Wednesday that the company was exploring a possible sale.
Founded in 2017, Forest Road is an investment firm interested in media, renewable energies and digital assets, according to its website. Among its projects is a Formula E team and, in 2024, it expanded its advice business with the acquisition of a majority participation in ACF Investment Bank.
With Reuters information
Follow us on Google News to always keep you informed
