Grindr’s shares dropped sharply on Thursday after the company’s special board committee chose to stop talks about a surprise plan to take the company private. The offer came from two major shareholders, Ray Zage and James Lu. They wanted to buy the company for eighteen dollars a share in cash. The moment Grindr said the talks were ending, the stock fell almost eleven percent.
The committee said the biggest problem was uncertainty around the money needed for the deal. They said they tried to study the proposal carefully. But they never received solid proof that the buyers actually had firm, reliable financing in place. Because of that, they felt they could not move forward.
After looking at everything they had, the committee decided continuing talks was not smart for the company or for its shareholders. Grindr also said in its statement that J.P. Morgan Securities is advising the committee through the entire process.
This decision comes as Grindr continues operating as a public company. The platform remains one of the most widely used dating apps in the LGBTQ+ community, and the company now must keep moving forward without the buyout option on the table.