Forbes Media Going Public Via SPAC: What Investors Should Know

An iconic financial media brand is going public with plans to continue its digital transformation.

The SPAC Deal: Forbes Global Media Holdings announced Thursday a SPAC deal with Magnus Opus Acquisition Limited OPA. The deal values the company at a pro forma enterprise value of $630 million. A $400 million PIPE was announced as part of the deal.

Public OPA shareholders will own 24.1% of the new company with a merger expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2021 or the first quarter of 2021. The new company will trade with the ticker FRBS.

The Forbes brand has been around for 104 years and remains one of the most well-known brands in business and finance.

About Forbes Media: The Forbes brand reaches over 150 million people worldwide through print, digital and brand extensions.

The company has expanded into areas like real estate, education and financial services. The company’s 45 licensed local editions cover 76 countries and provide additional revenue to the company.

Forbes maintains a position as a top 50 most visited website with over 3.5 billion annual page views. The company gets over 79 million monthly organic search views. The company has over 6 million print readers and ranks as one of the top read business magazines.

Forbes has over 42 million social media followers across several platforms.

Growth Ahead: Forbes said the SPAC deal will help it further its successful digital transformation and also pursue additional growth opportunities.

“With this transition into a publicly traded company, Forbes will have the capital to accelerate growth by executing its differentiated content and platform strategy and fully realize the potential of our iconic brand,” said Forbes CEO Mike Federle.

Growth expansion listed by the company in its presentation includes finance, education, entrepreneurship and lifestyle.

The company listed e-commerce, marketplace and fintech as successful growth verticals added.

Financials: Forbes had revenue of $183 million in fiscal 2020. The company sees revenue hitting $211 million in fiscal 2021 and $237 million in fiscal 2022.

The company’s 2021 revenue is expected to be split 65% media and 35% non-media. Over the long-term, Forbes sees revenue split as 45% media, 38% consumer and 17% brand extension.

OPA Price Action: OPA shares are up 2% to $9.90 on Thursday.