REPORT: Ashley Madison Nearly Bought Grindr

The gay community may have dodged a huge bullet as it’s being reported that Ashley Madison execs were seriously considering buying Grindr before their hacking scandal. Forbes reports:

Amongst the masses of emails dumped by The Impact Team, a group of hackers who have made a mockery of Ashley Madison’s digital defences this month, are a handful of conversations showing it was considering a purchase of Grindr, a dating application for gay, bisexual and bi-curious men, which many see as a quick and easy tool for initiating coitus. The relationship would have been symbiotic, given both primarily supplement men looking for hook-ups, and Grindr is said to be used by many married men hoping to play away. The relationship between Avid Life Media, owner of Ashley Madison, and Grindr stretches back to 2012, when respective founders Noel Biderman and Joel Simkhai spoke over email and phone, discussing how they might be able to advertise one another’s services, according to leaked emails reviewed by FORBES. But it wasn’t until this year that Biderman and major Avid Life Media shareholders considered making an offer for a significant stake in the company.

When stories emerged earlier this year Grindr was considering a sale, Biderman, though outwardly reluctant to follow through with an offer, sought out information on the financial status of the firm. In May this year, Jonathan Pollack, from Toronto-based Fireside Capital, called Raine Group, the company advising Grindr on a possible sale. He came back with some impressive figures. In previously undisclosed data, Grindr’s 2014 revenues were said to be $31 million with its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), a measure of profitability, at $14 million. It had 4 million active monthly users and 2 million looking for some fun on the app every day. There were 250,000 paid subscribers in 2014 too.

On May 30th Bilderman reportedly decided that the likely Grindr sale price would be at least $100M and “not worth it” for Ashley Madison to acquire.