By Juby Babu
Jan 30 (Reuters) - OnlyFans is exploring selling a majority stake to investment firm Architect Capital in a deal valuing the adult content social media site at around $5.5 billion, including
debt, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday.
San Francisco-based Architect is in exclusive talks for a nearly 60% stake in OnlyFans, the person said. Excluding debt, the deal would value the online platform at nearly $3.5 billion.
Architect sees potential to develop infrastructure at OnlyFans to pay "under-banked" creators, according to a presentation sent to the firm's investors that was seen by the Wall Street Journal, which had reported the development earlier.
The investment firm added that OnlyFans, which brings in almost $1.6 billion in annual net revenue, has a path to an IPO in 2028, the WSJ report said.
OnlyFans parent Fenix International Ltd was in talks to sell the company to an investor group at a valuation of around $8 billion, Reuters had exclusively reported last year.
Fenix International and Architect did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.
The online platform, which exploded in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic, is best known for enabling adult content creators to charge for subscriptions. OnlyFans takes 20% of creators' earnings.
The company's sole shareholder is Leonid Radvinsky, a Ukrainian American who bought it in 2018.
(Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Shreya Biswas)
