BuzzFeed media is negotiating for an IPO, reports news agency Bloomberg on the basis of insiders. The company’s U.S. same site would be willing to merge it with a shell company, where a group of investors that is, a method that is becoming more and more popular in the Wall Street area.
After a possible IPO BuzzFeed would be able to finance acquisitions more easily with its shares, according to one of the insiders. It was not immediately clear on what market capitalization is expected.
BuzzFeed is reportedly holding talks with the 890 5th Avenue Partners, a so-called Special purpose acquisition company. With a spare money is raised to take over a company, which then gets a stock market listing. Sources warn that conversations about the IPO may still fail.
BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 and initially gained fame with online quizzes and funny lists that were mainly meant to yield ‘clicks’. Gradually, the media company focused more and more on deeper journalism, with many of its own research stories.
The stock market plans come after a turbulent year for BuzzFeed, which lost a lot of advertising revenue due to the coronavirus crisis and cut its workforce considerably. In the autumn of 2020, the company acquired competitor Huffington Post from media and telecom group Verizon, which previously acquired a minority stake in BuzzFeed. After that deal, it was announced that several dozen more jobs would be lost at Huffington Post.
Lesley Woutersen, one of the co-founders of the EconomicInform gives away all of his free time to the project. He is interested in stock exchange and digital assets. Lesley can be reached by lesley.woutersen@economicinform.com.