The website, aimed at helping married people cheat on their spouses, claims to be the second largest paid dating website in the world after Match.com, with a whopping 36 million members.
The controversial website raked in $115 million dollars in 2014, by charging men for “credits,” which are then used to message female users. The website reported a 45% sales growth from 2013 and a profit margin between 20-25%.
With business booming, Avid Life Media Inc., Ashley Madison’s parent company, intends to use IPO funds to market and internationally expand the website.
Despite their massive success in the industry, a previous attempt to launch an IPO in 2010 flopped in Toronto, due to lack of investor demand.
“We’re no longer a niche, but it’s been difficult in North America to find the support to go public,” Christoph Kraemer, head of Ashley Madison’s international relations, told Bloomberg.
The company credits the large number of women on the website to their ever-growing success, with a 50:50 ratio of men and women in the core group of users between 30 and 45-years-old. Female membership is also skyrocketing more quickly than male, with female members increasing 10% faster each year than male users.
