Finances

Grindr is set to sell for $608.5 million. The sale comes after the US government expressed national security concerns regarding Beijing Kunlun Tech’s ownership of the gay dating app. San Vicente Acquisition Partners — a group of entrepreneurs and investors in the technology, media and telecommunications industries — will acquire a 98.5 percent stake in Grindr in the deal. 

Kunlun is one of China’s largest mobile gaming companies. The company took a majority stake in Grindr in 2016 for $93 million. In 2018, Kunlun purchased the remaining percentage of the popular dating platform for $152 million. The agreement was met with apprehension on the part of journalists, China experts and former intelligence officials, who suggested that it put the Chinese government in a position to demand sensitive data about the app’s users, including those who are not Chinese citizens.

After a tumultuous year that involved an FTC lawsuit, a split from parent company IAC and the departure of CEO Mandy Ginsberg, Match Group has published its fourth quarter and full year financial results for 2019. Total revenue for the company exceeded $2 billion for the first time.

For the third quarter 2019, Match Group shared the following highlights:

• Total Revenue grew 20 percent over the prior year quarter to $547 million
• Average Subscribers increased 19 percent to 9.8 million, up from 8.2 million in the prior year quarter, and ARPU increased 1 cent to $0.59
• Operating income was $180 million, an increase of 19 percent over the prior year quarter
• Adjusted EBITDA increased 22 percent over the prior year quarter to $215 million

Match Group reported annual earnings for 2019, and its star dating app Tinder came out on top with almost $1.2 billion in revenue for the year.

Tinder had on average 5.9 million subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2019, 36 percent more than the previous year according to The Verge. At the same time, Reuters reported in early February that Match Group missed its fourth quarter revenue estimates as subscriber growth on Tinder fell to its lowest since the fourth quarter of 2018, perhaps an early sign of market saturation. 

Dating app Grindr, currently owned by Chinese company Kunlun Tech, might be off the market soon thanks to a bid by the Milan-based app design company Bending Spoons.

According to Global Dating Insights, Bending Spoons has offered $260 million for the popular gay dating app, headquartered in West Hollywood. Reports are also linking investment firm H14 to the deal, which is headed up by Barbara, Eleonora, and Luigi Berlusconi, children of Italy’s former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. The app’s original founder Joel Simkhai sold his company for $93 million to Kunlun Tech in 2016. 

Momo Homepage Screenshot

Momo reported financial results for the third quarter of 2019. The company’s major moments this year included topping Fortune’s ranking of the 100 fastest-growing companies in 2019 and working to get Tantan reinstated after it was removed from Android app stores by order of governmental authorities in China. Overall, Q3 was a positive period for the Chinese social networking and dating company.

Momo highlighted the following achievements for Q3 2019:

Tinder is rolling in cash at the close of 2019 thanks to consumer spending on its popular dating app. According to Annie’s List, it ranks as the number one non-gaming app where consumers are spending money, ahead of entertainment and social network giants like Netflix, YouTube and Tencent.

Video games are by far the most popular apps for consumers and generate the most revenue from in-app spending. However, outside of the gaming world, Tinder subscriptions have driven it to the top spot in consumer app spending.