Grindr Secures New $350 Million Credit Facility

November 29, 2023 at 08:30 AM EST

Proceeds used to refinance previous debt, expected to reduce interest expense by approximately $17M in 2024

Lenders are J.P. Morgan, Bank of America, Citizens Bank, Silicon Valley Bank, and Capital One

Grindr Inc. (NYSE: GRND), the world’s largest social network for the LGBTQ community, today announced that it completed a refinancing via a new $300 million Term Loan A facility and a $50 million Revolving Credit facility.

Building Strong Financial Relationships

The joint lead arrangers of the transaction are J.P. Morgan, Bank of America, Citizens Bank, and Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank. Capital One also participated as a lender.

The transaction is an important milestone for Grindr, as the only public company built and run by and for the LGBTQ community, in strengthening key relationships with the world’s top banks.

“We would like to thank our new financial partners for backing Grindr and the diverse gay community we represent,” said Grindr CEO George Arison. “This is very meaningful, and I’m proud to have the support of some of the world’s leading financial institutions in enabling a more open and welcoming financial ecosystem. We look forward to continuing our work to create a world where the lives of our users are free, equal, and just.”

Delivering on Commitments

The new facilities, which mature in November 2028, bear interest at a rate equal to Term SOFR plus an applicable margin of 275 to 325 basis points above the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR), based on Grindr’s leverage.

“Restructuring our high-cost lending facility was a key objective in our first year as a public company, and we’re very pleased with our successful outcome, especially in a challenging interest rate environment,” said Grindr CFO Vanna Krantz. “The significant reduction in cash interest expense achieved through this transaction will strengthen both our balance sheet and our profitability profile. We are excited about Grindr’s strong growth potential next year and beyond.”

Grindr went public in November 2022, and reported Q3 2023 results of 39% year-over-year revenue growth to $70.3 million and an adjusted EBITDA margin of 46%. Based on the company’s continued financial outperformance throughout 2023, the company increased its revenue growth guidance for the full year to 31% and maintained its expected adjusted EBITDA margin at 41%.

About Grindr Inc.

With more than 13 million monthly active users in virtually every country in the world, Grindr has grown to become a fundamental part of the LGBTQ community since its launch in 2009. The company continues to expand its platform to enable gay, bi, trans, and queer people to connect, express themselves, and discover the world around them. Grindr’s impact is further driven by Grindr for Equality’s wide-ranging initiatives that help the LGBTQ community around the world. Grindr is headquartered in West Hollywood, California. The Grindr app is available on the App Store and Google Play.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains “forward looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding our current views with respect to our ability to strengthen our balance sheet and profitability profile, our future growth potential, and our revenue growth guidance and adjusted EBITDA margin guidance for 2023. These forward-looking statements can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, such as “anticipates,” “approximately,” “believes,” “continues,” “could,” “estimates,” “expects,” “intends,” “may,” “outlook,” “plans,” “potential,” “predicts,” “seeks,” “should,” “will,” or the negative version of these words or other comparable words or phrases, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements, including guidance related to revenue growth and adjusted EBITDA margin and statements regarding the expected benefits of the refinancing, are predictions, projections, and other statements about future events that are based on current expectations and assumptions and, as a result, are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations discussed in the forward-looking statements. Many factors could cause actual future events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this press release, including but not limited to:

our actual ability to comply with the covenants contained in the Credit Agreement for our new credit facility;
our reliance on historical data, which may be of limited reliability, in providing revenue guidance;
our success in retaining or recruiting our directors, officers, key employees, or other key personnel, and our success in managing any changes in such roles;
the impact of the regulatory environment and complexities with compliance related to such environment, including maintaining compliance with privacy and data protection laws and regulations;
our ability to respond to general economic conditions;
factors relating to the business, operations, and financial performance of Grindr and our subsidiaries, including:
- competition in the dating and social networking products and services industry;
- the ability to maintain and attract users;
- fluctuation in quarterly and yearly results;
- our ability to adapt to changes in technology and user preferences in a timely and cost-effective manner;
- our ability to protect systems and infrastructures from cyber-attacks and prevent unauthorized data access;
- our dependence on the integrity of third-party systems and infrastructure; and
- our ability to protect our intellectual property rights from unauthorized use by third parties.
whether the concentration of our stock ownership and voting power limits our stockholders’ ability to influence corporate matters;
the effects of macroeconomic and geopolitical events on our business, such as health epidemics, pandemics, natural disasters, and wars or other regional conflicts;
the ability to maintain the listing of our common stock and public warrants on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”); and
the increasingly competitive environment in which we operate.

The foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. Further information on these and additional risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from those included in or contemplated by the forward-looking statements contained in this press release are included in the section titled “Risk Factors” included under Part I, Item 1A in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, and updates in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2023. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and we assume no obligation and do not intend to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

About Non-GAAP Measures

We use Adjusted EBITDA margin, which is a non-GAAP measure, to understand and evaluate our core operating performance. This non-GAAP financial measure, which may differ from similarly titled measures used by other companies, is presented to enhance investors’ overall understanding of Grindr’s financial performance and should not be considered as a substitute for, or superior to, the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP. We define Adjusted EBITDA as net loss excluding income tax provision; interest expense, net; depreciation and amortization; stock-based compensation expense; severance; litigation-related costs for matters unrelated to our ongoing business, including those matters incurred as part of the Business Combination; Legacy Grindr management fees; change in fair value of warrant liability; and other expense. Adjusted EBITDA Margin is calculated by dividing Adjusted EBITDA for a period by revenue for the same period. Our management uses this measure internally to evaluate the performance of our business and this measure is one of the primary metrics by which our internal budgets are based and by which management is compensated. We exclude the above items from net loss as some are non-cash in nature, and others are non-recurring such that they may not be representative of normal operating results. Adjusted EBITDA adjusts for the impact of items that we do not consider indicative of the operational performance of our business. While we believe that Adjusted EBITDA Margin is useful in evaluating our business, this information should be considered as supplemental in nature and is not meant as a substitute for the related financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP. We provide a reconciliation of net loss and net loss margin to Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin for the three months ended September 30, 2023, in our press release furnished as Exhibit 99.1 to our Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 13, 2023. Our net loss and net loss margin for the three months ended September 30, 2023, were $(0.4) million and (0.6)%, respectively.