Brands
Timex Group forges e-retail partnership with Timehut
NEW DELHI: The retail industry was steadily growing, till the pandemic brought an abrupt paradigm shift in the consumer sentiments, affecting the industry in an unprecedented way. Ensuing restrictions like lockdown and sanitisation protocols has led to a transformation in shopping habits that is led by the emergence of e-retail.
To capitalise on the growth in e-retail and to offer its consumers a worry-free shopping experience, Timex group has partnered with retail entity Timehut as an authorised online retailer for its leading brands. This deal authorises Timehut to sell all the brands under Timex group across various ecommerce portals such as Flipkart, Amazon, Myntra, Ajio, Tata Cliq as well as the brand's own channels. This will help Timex India to have control and grow the marketplace across channels.
Timex Group MD Sharmila Sahai said, “We are elated to announce the partnership with Timehut today which will efficiently help us in reaching our existing and new customers base faster and offer an exhilarating digital experience to them. With Timehut, we are expanding our product portfolio and increasing preference for our brands across segments to cater to the diversified needs of our consumer groups. We will ensure we meet the requirements across markets – metros and tier-1 and 2 through a convenient shopping experience for all.”
Timehut, supported by TGIL, is fully developed for e-commerce platforms and is open for strategic partnerships with brands looking to amplify their online presence. What it also offers to its consumers is 100 per cent guaranteed authentic watches, the biggest range of products which no other single entity can have, smooth delivery within 72 hours and support of a dedicated consumer helpline.
Ranging from luxury watch brands such as Salvatore Ferragamo, Versace & Teslar to premium fashion brands including Ted Baker, Furla, Nautica & Versus Versace to home-grown brands like Timex, Helix and TMX, Timehut will be authorised to sell all brands under the Timex group at all e-commerce marketplaces and will cater to the needs of the convenience-seeking and fashion-oriented customers. Apart from the pan India outreach, this will also enable consumers in smaller cities, with limited offline stores, to shop from the vast range of watches offered by Timex group brands.
Brands
UK’s OnlyFans seeks US investor at $3bn valuation after owner’s death
The adult video platform is seeking stability after the death of its billionaire owner
LONDON: OnlyFans is looking for a new partner. The London-based adult video platform is in advanced talks to sell a minority stake of less than 20 per cent to Architect Capital, a San Francisco-based investment firm, in a deal that would value the business at more than $3bn (£2.2bn).
The move is driven by an urgent need for stability. Leonid Radvinsky, the Ukrainian-American billionaire who owned OnlyFans, died of cancer last month at the age of 43, leaving the future of one of Britain’s most profitable privately held businesses suddenly uncertain.
The choice of Architect Capital is not arbitrary. The firm has deep expertise in financial services, which aligns neatly with OnlyFans’ ambitions to offer banking products to its creators, many of whom have long struggled to access basic financial services because of the nature of their work.
The numbers behind OnlyFans are, by any measure, staggering. The platform posted revenues of $1.4bn in the year to 30th November 2024, with a pre-tax profit of $684m, up four per cent on the prior year. Payments to creators totalled $7.2bn over the same period, a rise of nearly ten per cent. Radvinsky personally collected $701m in dividends from the business in 2024 alone, on top of more than $1bn in such payments he had already received. The platform, run through its parent company Felix International, hosts 4.6m creator accounts, with performers keeping 80 per cent of subscription proceeds and the platform pocketing the remaining 20 per cent. It has 377m fan accounts in total.
The current minority stake talks represent a notable scaling back of ambitions. In January, OnlyFans was reported to be in discussions with Architect about selling a majority stake of 60 per cent. Before that, the company had explored a sale to a consortium led by Forest Road Company, a Los Angeles-based investment firm. Neither deal materialised.
OnlyFans has built an enormously lucrative business on content that mainstream finance has long refused to touch. Now, with its owner gone and a $3bn valuation on the table, it is looking for the kind of respectable institutional backing that might finally persuade the banks to take its calls.
