Forbes explores sale, hires Citigroup as banker
3:54 pm Tuesday, August 02nd, 2022
(Reuters) -Forbes said on Tuesday it was exploring a sale of its business and had hired Citigroup to manage the process, months after it pulled out of a deal to go public through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).
“There were many interested parties, so we moved forward with a formal sale process and Citigroup was hired to manage this process,” a Forbes spokesperson said in an emailed response.
Details including the enterprise value Forbes was seeking and a timeline for the sale were not disclosed.
A report from the New York Times, which was the first to report the news, said Forbes was seeking to sell at a price of at least $630 million. (https://nyti.ms/3d3eezu)
In recent weeks, an offering document describing Forbes’ financials compiled by Citi has been circulated to companies in the media sector, including Yahoo, according to the NYT report.
Forbes generated more than $200 million in revenue and over $40 million in profit in 2021, the report said.
In June, Forbes sought to terminate its $630 million deal with former Point72 executive Jonathan Lin-led special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Magnum Opus to go public.
Earlier in February, Forbes announced raising $200 million strategic investment from cryptocurrency firm Binance. (https://reut.rs/3Sm1CDt)
SPAC deals were among the hottest investment trends during the pandemic but the rapid increase in the number of deals has drawn the attention of the Securities and Exchange Commission, which has proposed new rules and additional disclosures from the deal sponsors.
(Reporting by Yuvraj Malik in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva and Maju Samuel)
