Brands
Bridgestone expands in south; launches 2 concept stores in Bangalore
MUMBAI: Bridgestone India has expanded its reach in the south region with inauguration of two concept stores in Bangalore.
The launch of concept stores in Bangalore aims to revolutionise tyre buying experience, with a focus on safety, reliability and eco-friendliness. The motto being safety of customers and workers; reliability of products; transparency in operations and promote eco-friendly products and environment both in the store and outside.
With the focus to cater the customers from in and around Bangalore with the product portfolio that Bridgestone offers ranging from eco-friendly, comfort to trendy and sporty tyres to the all new experience of enabling the customers to view tyres as a critical purchase item which ensures their safety at all times.
Bridgestone India snior general manager sales & marketing – PSR Vaibhav Saraf said, “We are pleased to launch our two new concept stores in Bangalore. This is a unique retail concept that is part of our significant expansion strategy. This initiative will add a new dimension to the retailing of tyres in the region through our unique business model of safety, reliability and environment friendly norms that will adhere to through our direct and indirect business operations. The concept store besides having our complete product range and services will offer a new experience in tyre buying for the customers. It will be also backed by well informed staff that understands the nuances of consumer requirements.”
Distinctively planned, designed and built on the concepts of safety, reliability and eco-friendliness, the store will not only enhance brand presence, but it will create a strong retail identity and in the process will make Bridgestone products accessible to a much larger number of consumers.
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.
