Gay  dating app Grindr is set to list shares on international stock exchanges, under a plan submitted by its Chinese parent company Kunlun Group. The tech firm took full control of the dating app in January, having originally bought a majority stake in the firm back in 2016.

Kunlun Groups board said that going public would “strengthen” Grindrs competitiveness in an increasingly crowded market and help the business continue to develop and grow. After the initial public offering was completed, financing arrangements will be made to support Grindrs continued expansion.

Grindr was the first gay social networking app on the iTunes App Store, and now boasts over 27m users in 192 countries, although its user base is primarily located in Europe and North America. The company was founded in March 2009, and the app was originally intended as a way to help people find other users with similar interests using geolocation data, but it gained popularity in the gay community and pivoted towards dating.

Kunlun Group acquired a 61.5 per cent stake in Grindr for $93m (£71.4m) in January 2016, and purchased the remaining shares in January this year for $152m. Despite the apps new Chinese ownership, it is not the most popular gay dating service in the country. Beijing-based app, which claims to have 40m users worldwide, holds the number one position in China.