US business media brand Forbes is reportedly nearing sale, and is seeking an asking price of $800m. In a story broken by The Daily Beast, CEO Mike Federle is reported to have told staff in a company-wide email that the publication has now entered into exclusive negotiations with a potential buyer.
“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,” the exec is reported as writing.
He goes onto say that it is an exciting time to be at the company, and over the past eighteen months it has certainly been that:
- In July 2021, Forbes announced that it was to become a public company via SPAC – a special purpose acquisition company – with the transaction expected to close by the beginning of 2022.
- In December 2021, the company reported a return to profit, following difficult trading conditions in 2020. At that time, it posted a net annual income of $19.5 million, compared to a net loss of $2.8 million for the same period in 2020.
- By February 2020, Forbes had taken $200m of investment from crypto exchange Binance, as it geared up towards the SPAC.
- But by June, it was clear that this transaction had not gotten over the line, and the company announced that it had terminated plans to go public.
Five months later and here we are, with the company eyeing private sale. It’s now believed that this transaction could take months to complete, and of course for all the latest, stay tuned to inPress Online… the media for media!