OnlyFans in talks for sale worth $8 billion, IPO considered amid shift towards mainstream content
Forest Road Company is negotiating to buy OnlyFans for $8 billion, with discussions ongoing since March. The platform seeks to diversify its content. It posted a net profit of $485.5 million for the year ending November 2023.
A Los Angeles-based investment firm plans to buy OnlyFans Ltd. in a deal worth $8 billion, Reuters reported. An initial public offering is also being considered.
OnlyFans, an online content subscription service that rose to popularity during lockdowns imposed due to COVID-19, is in talks regarding a possible sale since March with Forest Road Company. However, the details of the transaction are not known yet, the report said, citing people aware of the development. The company may be in discussion with other suitors as well.
The London-based OnlyFans, popularly known for hosting pornographic and adult content banned on the majority of social media platforms, has been trying to move away from hardcore content towards less-explicit material.
The company, which was bought by Ukrainian-born billionaire Leonid Radvinsky in 2018, is now consistently trying to develop a set of comedians, chefs, personal trainers, and other creators to expand its user base. Radvinsky has received at least $1 billion in dividends over the past three years.
It was alleged that the company engaged in child sexual abuse material and nonconsensual pornography that was shown on the platform since 2019, the report said, citing documented complaints with US police and court records. It was further alleged that the platform was used by sex traffickers to abuse and exploit women.
The company posted a net profit of $485.5 million, a 20% growth for the year ended on November 30, 2023, Bloomberg reported, citing owner Fenix International in a September report.
The investment firm Forest Road was founded in 2017 with an emphasis on media and digital content as well as energy and life sciences. In 2024, the firm acquired a Formula E racing team, and purchased a boutique investment bank.
In 2022, some of the executives of Forest Road joined a special purpose acquisition company aiming to take OnlyFans public in 2022, Reuters reported, citing people aware of the development and filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
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