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Shares of Grindr surged more than 10 percent on Monday after reports emerged that the majority owners are exploring a deal to take the LGBTQ+ dating app private. A number of insiders, including Raymond Zage and James Lu, are in negotiations to secure debt funding from Fortress Investment Group as part of a proposed buyout.
The potential acquisition is reportedly valued at around $15 per share, implying a total valuation near $3 billion. The timing of these talks appears to be linked to pressure on the owners: a Temasek-affiliated lender, after declaring personal loans secured by their Grindr holdings in default, allegedly seized and sold some shares. Grindr itself declined to comment on the speculations, and Fortress similarly withheld response.
If the deal proceeds, it would mark a notable shift for the company, which went public via a SPAC in 2022 after being acquired by San Vicente Acquisition in 2020. The company has long held a prominent position in the dating app niche, and that prominence may have only increased after going public – but as of now, there’s no telling how its success may change if the app ends up going private once again.
With an estimated 15 million monthly active users, Grindr continues to be a flagship property in the LGBTQ+ digital space. However, the news of a possible privatization could change a lot about the platform’s perception, or potentially lead to the platform itself having to make unexpected changes that could exert more pressure on it own user base. On the other hand, perhaps the buyout will be nothing but positive for the platform and enable it to fully recover from recent slumps in share price and users’ app burnouts – only time will tell.
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