Grindr shareholders withdraw $3.46B take-private bid after financing talks stall
Grindr investors Ray Zage and James Lu have withdrawn a proposed $3.46 billion offer to take the dating app private, the pair said on Wednesday, after the company’s special committee ended talks over concerns about deal financing.
The two largest shareholders — who together hold more than 60% of outstanding Grindr shares — had offered $18 per share last month, a roughly 51% premium to the company’s stock price at the time. According to Reuters, the special committee said it was “unable to obtain satisfactory information about definitive financing.”
Zage and Lu said they had attracted significant interest from lenders and other investors to support their bid but did not disclose the parties involved. Following the withdrawal, Zage indicated he intends to buy additional Grindr stock and will urge the board to expand share buybacks and to consider dividend payments.
The investors also voiced continued confidence in Grindr’s business plan, citing the company’s third-quarter results that keep it on track for full‑year revenue growth of approximately 26%. They said these metrics underline the app’s growth potential even as the wider dating sector faces headwinds.
Grindr’s shares are down about 29% year to date amid industry-wide challenges such as slowing user expansion and so-called “swiping fatigue,” though the stock has outperformed rivals Match Group and Bumble over the same period. The app, used by millions across more than 190 countries, focuses on same-sex relationships and was an early dating platform to integrate sexual health tools into its product.
Zage and Lu previously acquired Grindr in 2020 from Chinese gaming firm Kunlun Tech after U.S. regulators expressed national security concerns about data privacy. They later took the company public through a SPAC merger in late 2022.
