OnlyFans — the massive adult creator network where artists and influencers sell subscription-based content directly to fans — is considering selling a majority stake in its business to investment firm Architect Capital, a source close to the deal told TechCrunch. The deal would value the platform at $5.5 billion.
Of that $5.5 billion, $3.5 billion will be equity and $2 billion will be debt, the source said. Under these terms, Architect would take over 60% of the business. The two parties are in exclusivity, which means that OnlyFans is not allowed to negotiate with other potential buyers for a specified period of time. It’s unclear what the timeline might be for the deal to be completed. The negotiations were mentioned earlier from the Wall Street Journal.
TechCrunch has reached out to Architect Capital for comment.
This isn’t the first time in recent memory that OnlyFans has been in talks to sell its business. Last year, the New York Post stated that Leonid Radvinsky, the billionaire owner of the site, was trying to “cash in” and courted potential buyers. Subsequent reference indicated that the platform’s parent company, Fenix International Ltd., was in talks with a group of US-based investors led by Los Angeles-based investment firm Forest Road Company. It’s unclear what happened in those discussions, though the source told TechCrunch that there have been several interested parties since OnlyFans announced its desire to sell a majority stake.
The potential business partner in this particular deal, Architect, launched in 2021 as an asset-backed lender — a company that provides loans backed by corporate assets — that wants to work with early-stage startups.
OnlyFans claims that it is not a porn site, despite the fact that the majority of creators on it produce adult content. A British company, the site was founded in 2016 by Tim Stokely, who initially served as CEO. Stokely sold the majority stake of the website’s parent company, Fenix International, to Radvinsky in 2018. Over the years, it suffered from a variety of legal disputes, including pipelines accusing the site of profiting from abusive videos.
