Grindr Insiders Try to End Their Public Fling With a $3.46 Billion Take-Private Offer (+19%)

After a three-year fling with Wall Street, it looks like Grindr’s ready to end things and go back to being single.

Two of the company’s biggest insiders (Chairman James Lu and billionaire investor Raymond Zage) have proposed taking the dating platform private in a deal that values it at roughly $3.46 billion. Shares of Grindr exploded nearly 19% after the news dropped on Friday.

According to new filings, Lu and Zage (who together already control more than 60% of Grindr) offered $18 per share to acquire all remaining outstanding stock. That’s a 51% premium over where shares traded before the buyout rumors began swirling earlier this month.

Both men are veterans of the company’s post-China era. They originally bought Grindr in 2020 for $608 million, after U.S. regulators forced its previous Chinese owner, Kunlun Tech, to sell over data privacy concerns. Two years later, they took it public on the NYSE at a $2.1 billion valuation. Now, they’re looking to reverse that move… just with a much higher price tag.

Which brings up the question: “Why go private now?” Well, insiders say the offer has to do more with control than with actual money. The online dating industry has hit an awkward phase. Companies like Match Group (Tinder) and Bumble have struggled with slowing user growth and what analysts call “swiping fatigue.” Meanwhile, AI-driven matchmaking startups are starting to flirt with the next generation of users. In that context, Lu and Zage see Grindr’s future as brighter outside the glare of public markets.

Zage told reporters he’s been a “consistent buyer” since the IPO (collecting over $200 million worth of GRND stock) and says he’s ready to throw in even more equity to make this deal happen. According to him, they want to run the business without the quarterly performance pressure of Wall Street breathing down their necks.

Grindr now has nearly 15 million active users across 190 countries. And while it’s still one of the most recognized names in LGBTQ tech, its public debut has been… well, rocky.

Since going public in late 2022, the stock’s been a rollercoaster… swinging wildly between investor hype and indifference. Friday’s 19% pop was one of its biggest since the listing.

The company confirmed it’s formed a special committee of independent directors to review the proposal. The offer, for now, is “preliminary and non-binding,” but insiders claim they’ve already lined up both equity and debt financing to fund the buyout.

There’s one wrinkle that’s got everyone gossiping: according to Semafor, the buyout talk might’ve been triggered by a margin call. In which, a lender reportedly dumped some of Lu and Zage’s Grindr shares that were pledged as collateral for a loan, leaving the duo in what sources called a “precarious personal financial position.”

So, in classic Wall Street-meets-rom-com fashion… this may be as much about saving face as it is about saving Grindr.

If the deal goes through, it’d rank among the biggest private takeovers of a U.S.-listed social app in recent years.

At the time of publishing this article, Stocks.News doesn’t hold positions in companies mentioned in the article.