by Edwin Chan
A Los Angeles investment firm is in discussions to buy out OnlyFans Ltd. in a deal that values the site at $8 billion, Reuters reported.
OnlyFans, which soared in popularity during global Covid lockdowns, has been in talks since at least March with Forest Road Company about a transaction with unknown terms, Reuters said, citing anonymous sources. The company may be engaging with other suitors as well, the news service reported.
London-based OnlyFans, which has a reputation for hosting pornographic and adult content forbidden on most other social networks, has been trying to move away from hardcore content toward less-explicit material.
The company owned by Ukrainian-born billionaire Leonid Radvinsky since 2018 has been steadily building up its stable of comedians, chefs, personal trainers and other types of creators to widen its user base.
It posted a 20% rise in profit to about $485.5 million in the year ending Nov. 30 2023, owner Fenix International said in a September report.
Forest Road is an investment firm founded in 2017 with a focus on media and digital content alongside energy and life sciences. It acquired a Formula E racing team in 2024, and bought a boutique investment bank that same year.
Some of its executives joined a special purpose acquisition company that tried to take OnlyFans public in 2022, Reuters reported, citing sources and filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
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