BuzzFeed plans to go public through merger deal

BuzzFeed on Thursday announced its plans to become a public company after completing a merger.

The news outlet will merge with special purpose acquisition company 890 Fifth Avenue Partners Inc. CNBC reported that the merger could financially help BuzzFeed pursue other media companies.

BuzzFeed’s parent company would be BuzzFeed Inc. and its ticker symbol would be listed as BZFD. BuzzFeed estimates its valuation will be $1.5 billion once the deal is closed, which is expected in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Additionally, BuzzFeed CEO and founder Jonah Peretti and Adam Rothstein, executive chairman of 890 Fifth Avenue Partners, also announced BuzzFeed’s plans to acquire entertainment digital publisher Complex Networks for $300 million in a deal with Hearst and Verizon. 

The deal would involve $200 million in cash and $100 million in equity in BuzzFeed.

“The acquisition of Complex Networks will expand our reach into new audiences, complement our entertainment, news, and lifestyle brands, and open the door to even more revenue opportunities,” Peretti said in a statement.

BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 and has been known for both its viral listicles and more recently for its first Pulitzer Prize win earlier this year, for a story on the Chinese government’s mass detentions of its Muslim population. 

In November, BuzzFeed acquired HuffPost from Verizon Media. About three weeks after finalizing the deal, BuzzFeed announced layoffs at the news outlet, which affected 47 employees. Peretti told employees at the time that it was meant to “fast-track the path to profitability,” according to HuffPost.