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- Dating app Grindr is slated to go public via a SPAC merger with NYSE-listed Tiga Acquisition Corp.
- The combined company is valued at $2.1 billion and is expected to raise $384 million for Grindr.
- Grindr’s previous Chinese owner was forced to sell the company in 2020 after the US government deemed it a national security risk.
Grindr, the world’s largest dating app for LGBTQ+ people, is slated to go public via a merger with Tiga Acquisition Corp, a special-purpose acquisition company.
The combined company is valued at $2.1 billion, Grindr said in an announcement on Monday. The merger is expected to raise $384 million for Grindr, which the company plans to use to pay down debt and fund growth.
California-based Grindr said in its announcement that it is profitable and saw a 31.5% on-year increase in paying users as of December 2021. About 80% of user profiles are 35 years or younger and there remains untapped global potential for its services, it added.
“Grindr has established itself as the primary social network for LGBTQ+ people, enabling meaningful expansion of its monetization within a continuously growing market,” said Raymond Zage, Chairman and CEO of Tiga.
The dating app said existing shareholders would own about 80% of the company after the merger, which is expected to close in the second half of 2022.
Chinese gaming company Beijing Kunlun Tech acquired 60% of the dating app in 2016, and the rest of its shares in 2018. In 2019, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) labeled Beijing Kunlun’s ownership of Grindr a national security risk. In 2020, the Chinese company sold Grinder for $620 million to San Francisco-based San Vicente Acquisition Partners.
Tiga shares are up about 1.5% in after-hours trade.
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