( Reuters) – Chinese video gaming business Beijing Kunlun Tech Co Ltd (300418 SZ) is close to signing an arrangement to offer popular gay dating app Grindr LLC to a group of investors, according to individuals acquainted with the matter.
FILE PHOTO: Grindr app is seen on a mobile phone in this photo illustration taken in Shanghai, China March 28,2019 REUTERS/Aly Song/File Image
The move follows a U.S. federal government panel bought Kunlun to divest Grindr, which it has actually owned because2016 The panel, dubbed the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), was worried that the personal info of countless Americans, such as private messages and HIV status, was at danger of falling under the incorrect hands.
One of the investors in the group that is nearing an offer to obtain Grindr is James Lu, a former executive at Chinese search engine huge Baidu ( BIDU.O), three of the sources stated. The identity of the other investors in the consortium might not instantly be found out.
The deal cost that Kunlun is acceptable to for Grindr might likewise not be learned, but the negotiations throughout the sale procedure were based upon an evaluation of Grindr of around $500 million, among the sources said.
The sources cautioned that there is no certainty an offer will be struck and requested privacy ahead of a main statement.
Grindr decreased to comment, while Kun