The post Grindr Majority Shareholders Led By Billionaire Raymond Zage Withdraw Buyout Bid appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. Spencer Platt/Getty Image Grindr’s majority shareholders George Raymond Zage III and James Lu have withdrawn their proposed buyout that values the LGBTQ dating app at $3.5 billion. The duo announced their decision in a regulatory filing after New York-listed Grindr said on Monday that a special committee formed by the company’s board has ceased engagement over the non-binding offer due to “continued uncertainty as to the financing for the proposal.” The company’s senior management preferred to remain a publicly listed company considering that Wall Street analysts have recently upgraded their share price targets to levels well above the $18 per share offered by Zage and Lu, according to the regulatory filing. Four brokerages have this month pegged their 12-month price targets at between $21 and $26 apiece, according to Bloomberg data. “The proposal is withdrawn with immediate effect,” Zage’s investment firm Tiga Investments said in the filing, adding that the majority shareholders are terminating further discussions with the special committee and Grindr. The company’s shares rose 1.5% in morning trading in New York. Zage—who together with Lu owns about 64% of Grindr—intends to continue buying the company’s shares in the open market, Tiga said. The Singapore-based investor said last month he bought more than $200 million Grindr shares in the open market as the stock fell to a one-year low. He is urging the management to boost shareholder returns by increasing share buybacks and at some point paying dividends. Launched in 2009 as one of the first location-based dating apps for gay men, Grindr has since become the most popular LGBTQ mobile app worldwide, claiming over 14 million monthly active users. The company’s net profit climbed 25% to $31 million in the third quarter of this year. Tiga said Zage and Lu “look forward to many years of continued growth… The post Grindr Majority Shareholders Led By Billionaire Raymond Zage Withdraw Buyout Bid appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. Spencer Platt/Getty Image Grindr’s majority shareholders George Raymond Zage III and James Lu have withdrawn their proposed buyout that values the LGBTQ dating app at $3.5 billion. The duo announced their decision in a regulatory filing after New York-listed Grindr said on Monday that a special committee formed by the company’s board has ceased engagement over the non-binding offer due to “continued uncertainty as to the financing for the proposal.” The company’s senior management preferred to remain a publicly listed company considering that Wall Street analysts have recently upgraded their share price targets to levels well above the $18 per share offered by Zage and Lu, according to the regulatory filing. Four brokerages have this month pegged their 12-month price targets at between $21 and $26 apiece, according to Bloomberg data. “The proposal is withdrawn with immediate effect,” Zage’s investment firm Tiga Investments said in the filing, adding that the majority shareholders are terminating further discussions with the special committee and Grindr. The company’s shares rose 1.5% in morning trading in New York. Zage—who together with Lu owns about 64% of Grindr—intends to continue buying the company’s shares in the open market, Tiga said. The Singapore-based investor said last month he bought more than $200 million Grindr shares in the open market as the stock fell to a one-year low. He is urging the management to boost shareholder returns by increasing share buybacks and at some point paying dividends. Launched in 2009 as one of the first location-based dating apps for gay men, Grindr has since become the most popular LGBTQ mobile app worldwide, claiming over 14 million monthly active users. The company’s net profit climbed 25% to $31 million in the third quarter of this year. Tiga said Zage and Lu “look forward to many years of continued growth…