Grindr’s biggest investors become billionaires as the app makes impressive stock market debut
Back in May, it was announced that Grindr LLC would go public through a blank-check firm, or Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC), called Tiga Acquisition Corp.
At the time of the deal, it was estimated that the combined company post-transaction value would be a staggering $2.1 billion (£1.7 billion), including debt.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 18: Grindr outside of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) as the company goes public (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
The move went ahead and saw Grindr come out swinging on Friday (November 18) when it made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange. The app’s stock increased by more than 300% immediately after going public on Friday.
Shortly after Grindr executives rang the bell at the New York Stock Exchange, the stock leap from $16.90 to $71.51.
G. Raymond Zage III, a former partner at hedge fund Farallon Capital, owns a stake worth more than $2.6 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Zage founded blank-check company Tiga Acquisition Corp. in 2020.
Financial Times reports that, since almost all of the shareholders opted to redeem their investments upon transaction, Grindr will only receive a nominal sum of the $284mn in proceeds from Tiga Acquisition’s initial public offering.
It has a $100mn forward purchase agreement in place with the Spac’s backer that will make up for some of the shortfall. Grindr’s shares pared gains to close at $36.50, still up more than double.
Since its inception in 2009, Grindr has had a few owners.
Chinese gaming company Beijing Kunlun Tech Co. acquired 60% of the dating app in 2016, and then the rest of its shares in 2018. It then sold the company to to San Francisco-based San Vicente Acquisition Partners LLC for $608 million in 2020 after the US government deemed it a national security risk.
The valuation it received ahead of going public was more than triple the $608m former-owner San Vicente Acquisition paid for Grindr just two years earlier.
Grindr reported roughly 11 million daily users per day last year. Users sent a combined 260 million messages (that’s a LOT of dick pics) in that same period, and spent an average of 61 minutes per day on the app.
In the same announcement, Grindr estimated the value of its “highly engaged user base in a large and untapped addressable market” at $4 billion.
Grindr’s biggest investors become billionaires as the app makes impressive stock market debut
Grindr’s biggest investors become billionaires as the app makes impressive stock market debut
Back in May, it was announced that Grindr LLC would go public through a blank-check firm, or Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC), called Tiga Acquisition Corp.
At the time of the deal, it was estimated that the combined company post-transaction value would be a staggering $2.1 billion (£1.7 billion), including debt.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 18: Grindr outside of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) as the company goes public (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
The move went ahead and saw Grindr come out swinging on Friday (November 18) when it made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange. The app’s stock increased by more than 300% immediately after going public on Friday.
Shortly after Grindr executives rang the bell at the New York Stock Exchange, the stock leap from $16.90 to $71.51.
G. Raymond Zage III, a former partner at hedge fund Farallon Capital, owns a stake worth more than $2.6 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Zage founded blank-check company Tiga Acquisition Corp. in 2020.
Financial Times reports that, since almost all of the shareholders opted to redeem their investments upon transaction, Grindr will only receive a nominal sum of the $284mn in proceeds from Tiga Acquisition’s initial public offering.
It has a $100mn forward purchase agreement in place with the Spac’s backer that will make up for some of the shortfall. Grindr’s shares pared gains to close at $36.50, still up more than double.
Since its inception in 2009, Grindr has had a few owners.
Chinese gaming company Beijing Kunlun Tech Co. acquired 60% of the dating app in 2016, and then the rest of its shares in 2018. It then sold the company to to San Francisco-based San Vicente Acquisition Partners LLC for $608 million in 2020 after the US government deemed it a national security risk.
The valuation it received ahead of going public was more than triple the $608m former-owner San Vicente Acquisition paid for Grindr just two years earlier.
Grindr reported roughly 11 million daily users per day last year. Users sent a combined 260 million messages (that’s a LOT of dick pics) in that same period, and spent an average of 61 minutes per day on the app.
In the same announcement, Grindr estimated the value of its “highly engaged user base in a large and untapped addressable market” at $4 billion.
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