OnlyFans' Ukrainian owner plots £6bn sale of adult site
OnlyFans, the British website that allows people to cash in on adult photos and videos, is in talks to sell itself for $8bn (£6bn) to an investment company connected to former Disney executives.
Fenix International, the holding company that owns OnlyFans, is in talks with a consortium led by the Forest Road Company, a Los Angeles-based investment firm that counts former senior Disney executive Kevin Mayer as a board member.
Negotiations have been taking place since at least March and it is understood that a deal for the porn, fitness and cooking platform could be signed within two weeks, Reuters reported.
A sale would represent a significant windfall for Ukrainian-American porn baron Leonid Radvinsky, who bought OnlyFans for an undisclosed sum from its British founders in 2018.
Companies House records list Mr Radvinsky as Fenix's sole shareholder, although the company describes him as its 'majority' owner.
OnlyFans positions itself as a broad church of online influencers selling fitness, cooking and lifestyle videos, but is best known for a porn empire of millions of self-employed adult stars. The company was set up by Essex entrepreneur Tim Stokely with financing from his father Guy, a former investment banker.
The negotiations come three years after Forest Road previously sought to take over the entertainment website through a so-called blank cheque company that had raised $350m from Wall Street.
The shell company was managed by a group of former Disney executives including ex-finance chief Thomas Staggs. Axios reported that it walked away with concerns about OnlyFans' pornographic focus.
Forest Road provides financing to the television and film industry, with clients including ITV and Netflix, and owns an indie film distributor. It has also invested in a Formula E racing team and clean power projects.
Sources told Reuters that OnlyFans was also in talks with other potential suitors. A stock market flotation is also being considered, sources claimed.
However, the adult content on the site is understood to make OnlyFans untouchable for many big banks and investors.
The potential payday for Mr Radvinsky, 42, comes on top of £1bn in dividends from OnlyFans he has banked over the past five years.
The company has rapidly grown under Mr Radvinsky's ownership. Its revenue rose by 20pc in 2023 to $1.3bn. That was up from $375m in 2020.
Mr Radinsky, who was born in the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa but moved to the US as a child, keeps a low profile although he is understood to live in Florida.
He currently runs a venture capital fund that supports technology start-ups.
However, the economics graduate is best known for setting up a string of pornography-related websites, including the streaming website MyFreeCams. That site, where adult models broadcast themselves stripping in exchange for tips from viewers, became one of the most visited sites on the internet.
Forest Road declined to comment. OnlyFans was approached for comment.
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