Brands
Seiko is the new watch partner of Novak Djokovic
MUMBAI: On the eve of the Australian Open in Melbourne, Seiko launched its new partnership with Novak Djokovic. Shinji Hattori, President of Seiko Watch Corporation, is proud to announce the agreement in person and to present to Novak a Seiko Astron GPS Solar watch as a symbol of this global three year partnership.
Seiko and Novak: a perfect match
We choose to believe that Seiko is, today, a real leader in watchmaking. We invented the quartz watch in 1969, we invented the Kinetic watch in 1988 and just two years ago we invented Astron GPS Solar, a watch that, using only the power of light, connects to the GPS network. In summary, we strive for perfection in watchmaking; we always have and we always will. When Kintaro Hattori founded the company in 1881, he was determined that Seiko should be ‘‘always one step ahead of the rest’’, and we live today by this creed.
This is why, when the opportunity to work with Novak Djokovic arose, we welcomed it immediately. In Novak, we see someone who shares our desire to be the best and who is determined to maintain his status as a leader. Like Seiko, Novak is dedicated to perfection. And like Novak, Seiko is determined to be “one step ahead of the rest”.
A watch for every aspect of Novak’s life
We are delighted that Novak selected Seiko and we are honoured and proud to be his partner for the next three years. We admire Novak as a player, of course, but we also admire him as a person who has a rich range of interests and a very varied lifestyle.
We cannot help Novak win tennis matches, but we can help him manage time in every other aspect of his life. We have created a series of watches that Novak will be wearing in 2014; each selected to suit the different aspects of Novak’s life. When he is training, Novak will wear a watch he has selected from our Sportura chronograph collection. When he is at an evening function, Novak will wear a Premier Kinetic Perpetual watch. When he is away from the tennis world and enjoying his passion for adventure sports, it will be a Seiko Divers watch that accompanies him. Lastly, and most importantly for us and for Novak, whose global schedule is so hectic, when he is travelling, Novak will wear the Astron GPS Solar watch that uses the GPS network and the power of light to adjust to each and every time zone on earth.
Novak, Seiko and the environment
Novak’s 2014 watch collection highlights another aspect of the partnership that is important for both Novak and Seiko. We both share a passion for the preservation of our environment and Novak’s choice of watch reflects this. Astron uses just the power of light, the Sportura chronograph is powered by a mercury free battery that Seiko makes itself and the Divers and Premier watches are powered by Seiko’s unique ‘no battery change’ technology.
Thanks to Seiko’s leadership in green watchmaking, Novak’s love of, and respect for, the natural world is reflected in his watch collection.
Seiko and the Novak Djokovic Foundation
The Novak Djokovic Foundation commands our respect and admiration through its hard and important work with disadvantaged children. Seiko is pleased to support the Foundation and its activities financially, but the most important way in which we can make a difference is by helping Novak to promote the Foundation around the world. To do so, we have created an accessibly priced watch collection for young people that will carry the Foundation name and message. These watches are to be sold under our LORUS brand name and will be available in watch specialist retail stores in many markets worldwide from September, 2014 onwards.
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.
