Brands
Blue Dart re-appoints Balfour Manuel as managing director for second five-year term
Mumbai: Integrated transportation and distribution logistics company, Blue Dart Express has re-appointed Balfour Manuel as managing director for another term of five years with effect from 16 May 2022. The shareholders of the company approved his re-appointment at the recently held Annual General Meeting, the company said in a statement.
Balfour Manuel has been instrumental in the success of Blue Dart since its inception. He has been with the organisation since its initial days in 1983 and has played a key role in focusing its ‘People Centric’ philosophy.
Blue Dart chairman Sharad Upasani commented, “Despite the VUCA environment, under Balfour’s leadership, we are elated to see the robust growth that Blue Dart has achieved in the last four years. His extensive knowledge and all-round experience in the logistics sector has enabled the organisation to surpass emerging challenges and remain a leader in the logistics space. We are optimistic that, the ensuing years, will be more rewarding and Blue Dart will continue to deliver excellent results year over years.
Balfour Manuel said, “The next five years are going to be challenging and I am grateful to have this opportunity to set new benchmarks. Like always, we will persistently focus on overall sustainable growth and expansion and remain the nation’s trade facilitator and a deeply customer-centric brand, offering wide range of logistics solutions that cater to our customers’ needs.”
“With a keen focus on technology & digitalization, infrastructure, strengthening of our aircraft fleet, our brand and ‘people connect’, we will continue to remain a Provider of Choice, consistently working towards the group’s credo, ‘Connecting People, Improving Lives,” he added.
Further, Blue Dart has strengthened its present Board composition with the induction of Prakash Apte and Padmini Khare Kaicker as Independent Directors of the Company for a term of five years, effective from 28 July 2022.
Prakash Apte’s professional career spans over 40 years, most of which has been with multinationals in various positions related to Specialty Chemicals, Pharma & Agribusiness industries. He brings with him experience in the areas of global business & strategy, finance, governance, leadership and personal values.
A qualified chartered accountant from ICAI, Padmini Khare Kaicker is managing partner of B. K. Khare & Co.. She brings with her experience in the areas of strategy, finance, risk & governance, business and organisational matters.
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.
