Brands
HCL Tech fastest growing services brand: Brand Finance
MUMBAI: HCL Technologies, a leading global IT services provider, has emerged as the fastest growing global IT services brand in the world moving upwards by 122 ranks over the last year, in the 2017 Brand Finance Global 500 report. HCL’s brand value has surged by 38% over the last year. HCL now ranks at number 378th with a brand value of $4,463 million and AA+ brand rating.
Brand Finance CEO David Haigh said “Digital and technology brands have made great strides in the 21st century, reflected in their soaring valuations. Amongst leading global brands that we have tracked, of great interest is HCL Technologies, which has become the fastest growing global IT services brand. It already has an industry leading brand rating of AA+, which is likely to improve as a result of its focused Mode 1-2-3 strategy, strong brand promise and employee culture, in turn leading to continued, strong brand value growth for HCL”.
HCL Technologies CMO Matt Preschern said, “This is a proud moment for over 110,000 HCLites. Our strategic and best-in-class initiatives augmenting our capabilities across the technology ecosystem, have made us a partner of choice for the 21st Century Enterprises. We have been working very hard in creating significant business value for our stakeholders, empowering our employees and sustaining positive impact on the ecosystem. The continuous growth in HCL’s brand demonstrates our strength across all parameters of evaluation and the value we are creating for customers through our Mode 1-2-3 strategy”.
The methodology adopted by Brand Finance includes assessing the business model, customer satisfaction & engagement, employee engagement, CSR & community engagement and business performance. HCL has been recognized for consistently creating exceptional value for its customers through its unique Mode 1-2-3 business strategy strengthened by the promise of Relationship Beyond the Contract (RBtC) powered by the Ideapreneurship–led culture that fosters grass–root innovation, providing an opportunity to 110,000+ ideapreneurs to ideate, collaborate and create everyday innovative ideas to solve customer’s business problems.
Earlier HCL won the ITSMA Diamond Award for ‘Building Brand differentiation’ at the 2016 Marketing Excellence Awards, for its innovative “GetAJob@HCLTech” campaign, a first ever in its category. HCL became India’s most preferred millennial employer, surpassing established brands across ecommerce, telecom, technology and FMCG. The Economic Times also recognized HCL amongst top 10 brands in its ‘India’s Top 100 Brands’, 2016 study.
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.
