Filed by Tiga Acquisition Corp.
pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act of 1933,
as amended, and deemed filed pursuant to Rule 14a-12
under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Subject Company: Tiga Acquisition Corp.
Commission File No. 001-39714
Date: September 13, 2022
Wall Street Journal: Grindr Names New CFO as Dating App Operator
Prepares to Go Public
By
Jennifer Williams-Alvarez
September
13, 2022
(Dow
Jones) — Grindr LLC named a former Walt Disney Co. executive as its
next chief financial officer as the firm behind the dating app
plans to go public through a combination with a
special-purpose acquisition company later this year.
Los
Angeles-based Grindr, which specializes in connecting gay, bi,
trans and queer users, on Tuesday said Vanna Krantz is set to
become CFO effective Sept. 26. Current finance chief Gary
Hsueh is stepping down and will serve in an advisory role,
Grindr said.
Grindr
also named a new chief executive officer. George Arison, founder
of online car marketplace Shift Technologies Inc., will take
over from Jeff Bonforte, who will step down as chief executive
after more than two years in the role. Mr. Bonforte also will
stay on in an advisory capacity. Mr. Arison has been on the
Grindr board since May.
Ms. Krantz
joins Grindr from Passport Labs Inc., a transportation software
and payments company whose finances she has led since August
2021. Before her time at Passport Labs, Ms. Krantz was finance
chief at Yanka Industries Inc., a streaming learning platform
that does business as MasterClass, and at Disney Streaming
Services, Disney’s streaming platform.
Grindr in
May announced its plans to go public via a SPAC deal that
involves merging with blank-check company Tiga Acquisition
Corp. The transaction, valued at $2.1 billion, is expected to
provide Grindr with roughly $384 million in proceeds, which
the company said it would use to bolster its balance sheet and
pay down debt. SPAC activity in July reached a five-year
low as shares of companies that went public that way
plummeted.
Grindr has
fewer users than other dating apps, including Match Group Inc.
and Bumble Inc. Match for the second quarter reported an
average of 16.4 million paying monthly users across its apps
including Tinder and Hinge, while Bumble had more than three
million paying monthly users across its apps as of the end of
June. Meanwhile, 13 year-old Grindr, which provides a free service
but charges for updates, had around 723,000 paying users in
December 2021, the latest numbers the company will share, up
31.5% from the prior year.
Grindr’s
2021 revenue of $145.8 million was up about 40% compared with
the prior-year period. Net income last year jumped to $5.1
million from a roughly $13.1 million loss the previous year,
according to a May regulatory filing related to the SPAC
deal.
Grindr
plans to join the public markets as dating apps are showing
resilience despite current economic uncertainties, said Shweta
Khajuria, an internet analyst at investment banking advisory
firm Evercore Inc. This is because of pent-up demand for
in-person relationships coming out of the pandemic, according
to Ms. Khajuria, who covers both Match and Bumble. The dating
app consumer isn’t as sensitive to price changes as other
consumers, she said, adding that with prices across the apps
ranging from about $12 to $30 a month, this isn’t the first
place to look for a budget cut, she said.
“Match and
Bumble are not immune to consumer headwinds,” said Ms.
Khajuria. “But one thing in their favor is the subscription
business model and the resiliency of that model in times of a
recession.”
Most of
Grindr’s revenue, around 80%, comes from subscriptions, while
a smaller portion is generated with ad revenue. The Wall
Street Journal reported in May that Grindr users’ locations
for years were collected from a digital advertising network
and made available for sale. Grindr has shared
less information with ad partners since early 2020, the
company has said, adding that the data-sharing practices
reported on by the Journal wouldn’t be possible under current
privacy practices.
A Norwegian regulator last year fined Grindr 65 million kroner,
equivalent to roughly $6.6 million, after it found that the
company illegally disclosed user data to advertisers. Grindr
appealed the decision in February.
Ms. Krantz
said she would look for areas to further monetize
Grindr’s business, though she declined to provide specifics.
She said she also will focus on taking the company public. Ms.
Krantz gained experience in SPAC transactions as a board
member and current audit chair at mobile-gaming company Skillz
Inc., which went public through a SPAC in late 2020.
Once
Grindr is public, there will be more scrutiny around key business
dates, financial forecasts and subscriber numbers, she said.
On the latter of the three, Ms. Krantz said she would draw on
her time at Disney, where it was “beyond important” to be as
accurate as possible on those figures, as they drove the stock
price. “I think I’m really well positioned to do that....So
I feel pretty confident that we’ll be able to get this in
line, if it isn’t already,” she said.
About Grindr
With roughly 11 million monthly active users in virtually every
country in the world in 2021, Grindr has grown to become a
fundamental part of the queer community since its launch in 2009.
The company continues to expand its ecosystem to enable gay, bi,
trans, and queer people to connect, express themselves, and
discover the world around them. Grindr is headquartered in West
Hollywood, California. The Grindr app is available on the App Store
and Google Play.
Forward Looking Statements
This document may contain a number of “forward-looking statements.”
Forward-looking statements include information concerning Grindr’s
possible or assumed future results of operations, business
strategies, competitive position, industry environment, and
potential growth opportunities, including any potential benefits
that may be realized as a result of new members of management.
These forward-looking statements are based on Grindr’s management’s
current expectations, estimates, projections and beliefs, as well
as a number of assumptions concerning future events. When
used in this press release, the words “estimates,” “projected,”
“expects,” “anticipates,” “forecasts,” “plans,” “intends,”
“believes,” “seeks,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “future,”
“propose” and variations of these words or similar
expressions (or the negative versions of such words
or expressions) are intended to identify forward-looking
statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of
future performance, conditions or results, and involve a number of
known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other
important factors, many of which are outside Grindr’s
management’s control, that could cause actual results to differ
materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking
statements. These risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other
important factors include, but are not limited to: (a) the
inability to complete the proposed business combination due to the
failure to obtain shareholder approval or other conditions to
closing; (b) the risk that the proposed business combination
disrupts current plans and operations of Grindr; (c) the
ability to recognize the anticipated benefits of the proposed
business combination, which may be affected by, among other
things, competition, the ability of the combined company to
grow and manage growth profitably, maintain relationships with
customers and suppliers and retain its management and key
employees; (d) costs related to the proposed business combination;
(d) changes in applicable laws or regulations; (e) the possibility
that Grindr may be adversely affected by other economic,
business and/or competitive factors; and (f) the ability to
implement business plans, forecasts, and other expectations after
the completion of the proposed transaction, and identify
and realize additional opportunities.
The foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. You should
carefully consider the foregoing factors and the other risks and
uncertainties described in the “Risk Factors” section of the
registration statement on Form S-4 and other documents filed by
Tiga Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: TINV) from time to time with
the SEC. These filings identify and address other important
risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and
results to differ materially from those contained in the
forward-looking statements. You are cautioned not to place undue
reliance upon any forward-looking statements, which speak only as
of the date made. Except as required by law, Grindr undertakes no
obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements to
reflect events or circumstances after the date of this
release.
No Offer or Solicitation
This communication does not constitute an offer to sell or the
solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, or a
solicitation of any vote or approval, nor shall there be any sale
of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer,
solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or
qualification under the securities laws of any such
jurisdiction.
For more information please contact:
For Grindr Communications and Investor Relations:
Patrick
Lenihan
Patrick.Lenihan@grindr.com
Investors:
Ellipsis
Jeff
Majtyka
IR@grindr.com
Media:
TrailRunner International
Lexi
Schuchert
Press@grindr.com