Brands
After PVR, Paytm now partners with Cinepolis
MUMBAI: With an ever increasing focus on the entertainment arena, Paytm has partnered with Cinépolis, This move will allow Paytm users to book their movie tickets with 236+ plus Cinepolis screens across Cinépolis, Cinépolis VIP and Fun Cinemas.
In March this year, another Indian movie exhibition major – PVR Theatres had entered into a strategic tie-up with Paytm through which it hopes to sell tickets worth Rs 300 crore on PayTM’s e-commerce platforms in the first year, besides selling tickets from ticket counters and other channels. The deal was part of PVR’s nationwide foray in the on-line movie ticket segment.
Paytm VP Renu Satti said, “At Paytm, we are committed to bring to our consumers what they love the most. When it comes to entertainment, it goes without saying that online movie ticketing wins the race. With Cinepolis’ strong presence across the country, we aim to offer multiple alternatives to our cinema lovers.”
Cinepolis business head for strategic initiatives Devang Sampat said, “We are passionate to create the best customer experience for our patrons. Paytm is one of the fastest growing mobile payment and commerce platforms in the country. This strategic partnership will help us increase our online outreach and enhance the overall customer experience.”
Apart from this, Cinépolis India has aggressive plans of rolling out 400 screens by 2017. Cinépolis in India has been awarded with “Most Admired Retail Launch” in 2010, “Most Admired Retailer – Innovation” in 2011, “Fastest Growing Multiplex Chain” in 2015 and “Most Admired Retailer – Entertainment” in 2015, “DLP Marketing Achievement Award” in 2015.
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.
