Grindr majority shareholders submit non-binding $18 per share acquisition offer

George Raymond Zage III and James Fu Bin Lu, who along with affiliated entities beneficially own in aggregate more than 60% of the outstanding shares of common stock of Grindr (GRND), submitted a non-binding proposal to acquire all outstanding shares of the company’s common stock not already owned by the proposing shareholders and their affiliates in a going-private transaction. The proposal contemplates consideration of $18.00 per share for each share of common stock, representing an approximately 51% premium over the unaffected stock price on October 10, the trading day immediately prior to the day the proposing shareholders first informed the company of their intention to explore a going-private transaction. The proposing shareholders have secured significant expressions of interest to participate in financing, including multiple highly confident letters and contributions of equity, and are confident that these sources will be fully sufficient to fund the acquisition, they stated. “We acquired Grindr in 2020 and have been intently focused on building a world class management team that is focused on improving the product for the community Grindr serves. We are strong believers in the long-term outlook for the Company-I have been a consistent buyer of shares in Grindr since listing, buying over $200m of shares on the public market and am also willing to contribute additional equity to this deal. Further, we have received considerable initial interest from both debt and equity investors in participating in this opportunity. We hope to have an active and friendly dialogue with our CEO George Arison and the board to find the best path forward for the Company, our employees and investors,” said Zage. “We are pleased to submit this Proposal, which represents a significant premium to recent trading prices and better positions the Company for focused growth as a private entity. We look forward to engaging constructively with the Company and other shareholders in executing on our proposal,” said Lu.