OnlyFans proprietor in talks to promote UK-based grownup content material platform for £5.9bn

The proprietor of OnlyFans, the subscription platform utilized by hundreds of thousands for its grownup content material, is in talks to promote the UK-based trade for $8bn (£5.9bn).

The website online’s proprietor, Fenix International, is in discussions with a consortium led by way of the United States funding company Forest Road Company (FRC), whose board individuals come with Kevin Mayer, who used to be an government at Disney for just about 15 years and in addition in short ran TikTok.

Fenix is owned by way of Leonid Radvinsky, a 43-year-old Ukrainian-American entrepreneur, who has won dividends of just below $1.3bn from the extremely winning website online since 2020.

OnlyFans has greater than 4m accounts registered to creators who fee subscribers for get right of entry to to their content material, with the proceeds cut up 80/20 with the platform. The website online has 305m fan accounts, enabling customers to shop for movies from, and ship messages to, their favorite performers.

Although OnlyFans issues to a breadth of content material that comes with comedy, way of life and superstar subject matter, it’s synonymous with pornography and has a strict 18+ age prohibit.

In its most up-to-date accounts, OnlyFans posted revenues of $1.3bn within the 12 months to 30 November 2023, an building up of 20% at the earlier 12 months, whilst its pre-tax benefit rose by way of 1 / 4 to $658m.

The collection of author accounts and fan accounts each and every grew by way of just about 30% and content material creators won $6.6bn in 2023.

At the time, Keily Blair, the executive government of OnlyFans, mentioned the corporate had cemented its position as a “leading digital entertainment company and a UK tech success story”.

OnlyFans declined to remark and FRC has been contacted for remark.

Fenix could also be in talks with different suitors, in line with Reuters, which first printed the takeover talks. It could also be understood {that a} flotation of the platform is an not going choice.

OnlyFans used to be based in 2016 by way of Tim Stokely, sponsored by way of a mortgage from his funding banker father, and Radvinsky purchased the corporate in 2018. Little is understood about Odesa-born Radvinsky, even if his private web site states that he holds some extent in economics from Northwestern University in the United States and he lives in Florida. Before obtaining OnlyFans he owned an grownup webcam trade.

In March the United Kingdom communications regulator fined Fenix £1m for failing to as it should be reply to requests for details about age-checking measures at the platform, particularly facial estimation generation that gauges a person’s age by the use of a selfie.

Ofcom mentioned Fenix used to be a big, well-resourced corporate that used to be “well aware of its regulatory obligations” and must have have shyed away from its failings.