Brands
Dubai’s events & ad agency Plan B Group sets sight on India
MUMBAI: UAE based The Plan B Group of Companies, which handles events, advertising and designing solutions, is all set to launch operations in India.
Plan B Group aims to initially kick-start operations in Mumbai and Delhi with a gala UAE Week In India and is in talks with the Government for the same.
The Plan B Group has been involved in the management of some of the UAE’s biggest public events, and creative campaigns including Summer in Abu Dhabi, Dubai Rugby 7s, the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon, Fifa U17 Draw Ceremony in addition to launching brands including the Bentley – New Flying Spur.
This month, Plan B also launched a music property in Dubai called the Oye Punjabi Sangeet Mela, which featured the Punjabi legend Gurdas Maan and the Gen next musician Rani Taj, who is the leading Dhol player from UK. The event was held at the Emirates Golf Club. The Oye Punjabi Sangeet Mela blended the perfect mix of taste and trend with YouTube sensation Taj, who not only opened for Maan but also played the never before seen ‘Fusion Set’ on some of Maan’s greatest hits. The Music Festival is scheduled to hold its second edition in the latter half of the year with leading Punjabi artistes from India and Pakistan.
Keeping the Indian operations in mind, the Plan B Group has introduced a new Artiste Management division and has signed on a few upcoming artistes with a view to launch them in the Indian film industry, one of them being Taj.
Plan B Group in UAE owner and CEO Harmeek Singh said, “India is a dream market for all of us. UAE has been a success story and we would like to achieve the same on the home ground. Our expertise in creative conceptualisation be it ad films, events, musical properties or restaurants carries our unique distinction living up our motto. If we are not turning heads with our work, then we aren’t doing our job.”
The company recently also made an ad film with Shah Rukh Khan for one of its clients.
Plan B has also launched Oye Punjabi – a delectably styled eating outlet located at the Lamcy Plaza introducing Indian and UK-inspired authentic Punjabi flavor.
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.
