The Information reports that BuzzFeed is in talks to acquire digital lifestyle publisher Complex Networks from the Verizon-Hearst joint venture, as part of its plan to IPO by merging with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) 890 Fifth Avenue Partners. The acquisition would increase BuzzFeed’s revenue by 30% to some $500m.
Complex Networks is a New York-based media company, originally founded as the magazine Complex by fashion designer Marc Ecko and advertising executive Rich Antoniello. It stopped printing in 2017. In 2012, the company had launched Complex TV, an online platform that “publishes the best, most diverse and most relevant voices in pop culture”.
Its sites include: Complex (pop culture news and sports), Sole Collector (sneaker collectors..), Pigeons & Planes (music news), and First We Feast (food and drink). It is said to have revenue of $100m and generates 810m monthly video views and has more than 194m users on social media.
Complex was acquired by Verizon Hearst Media Partners in a 2016 deal which was said to have valued it at some $250m.
BuzzFeed, which last year acquired HuffPost from Verizon in an all-paper deal, is said to have made $30m EBITDA on revenue of $300m in 2020. The SPAC deal will inevitably value the company at a discount to its peak valuation of $1.7bn. Its founder Jonah Peretti would remain CEO of the enlarged company which is being forecast at $519m revenue this year and $654m in 2022, producing EBITDA of $50m and $102m respectively.
The acquisition of Complex Networks will give BuzzFeed comparable scale to Vice Media which is also hoping to IPO via a SPAC.
