Forbes For Sale? Mystery Buyers On Tap To Purchase Media Company After Failed SPAC

At the beginning of 2022, Forbes looked like it would be part of the SPAC wave, planning to go public via a merger with Magnum Opus Acquisition Ltd. OPA.

Even Binance, which has been particularly busy the past few days with FTX, was on board with a $200-million strategic investment before the deal's public debut, which would have made Binance one of the top two biggest owners of Forbes.

In May, those SPAC dreams were dashed. But now, a buyer has come calling.

In a company-wide email sent Wednesday by Forbes CEO Mike Federle, according to a Daily Beast report, stated the company entered into exclusive negotiations with a buyer, who remained publicly unnamed as of now, though there were hints.

"The potential acquirer is a consortium of family offices and global investors that is strategically aligned with the Forbes executive team and our goals for growing the company," Federle wrote in the memo obtained by the Daily Beast.

Forbes reportedly asked for an $800 million offer, but the price is rumored to be lower. The SPAC deal from earlier this year would have taken the company public at a valuation of $630 million.

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In 2014, Forbes sold a 95% stake to Hong Kong-based Integrated Whale Media at a valuation of $475 million. 

Like many media companies over the past years, the decline in print advertising has hit hard. Forbes, which was founded as a magazine in 1917, tried to fill the gap with special events and other ways to replace income.

One of its hottest franchises is its World's Billionaires List, featuring the likes of Telsa Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk, himself in the news lately due to his acquisition of Twitter, as well as FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and Binance CEO and co-founder Changpeng "CZ" Zhao, though all of their worth has decreased considerably in the past few days.

Read Also: Here's How Much Sam Bankman-Fried Lost In Wealth Tuesday — And How It Compares To Mark Zuckerberg's Rough 2022

Photo: dennizn via Shutterstock