Will BuzzFeed lead a SPAC gold rush for smaller digital media players? - Business Insider

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BuzzFeed's HuffPost acquisition has kicked off talk of more digital media consolidation, and SPACs are already circling

BuzzFeed founder and CEO Jonah Peretti delivers his keynote conference at the Mobile World Congress at the Fira Gran Via complex in Barcelona, Spain on February 23, 2016.BuzzFeed's acquisition of HuffPost has sparked speculation that BuzzFeed could try to buy other digital media companies, possibly by joining forces with a SPAC.

from Verizon and giving the phone giant a stake in a larger entity. Verizon agreed to invest in the new company, sparking speculation that Peretti would try to add other companies while remaining independent, possibly by joining forces with a SPAC. Peretti has said BuzzFeed would hit profitability this year, buoyed by growth in e-commerce, or affiliate, business. BuzzFeed declined to comment for this article.

"Billions of investment dollars are sitting on the sidelines now, aggressively chasing and competing for content-driven opportunities that can be presented to a frothy and liquid public market increasingly driven by new tech-driven platforms like Robinhood," Csathy said. "Robinhood feeds off young, inexperienced investors, and BuzzFeed is precisely the type of high profile youth-driven brand that logically could take advantage of these trends.

No one who spoke to Business Insider named specific deals that were in the offing, however. Vox's chief executive Jim Bankoff told The New York Times, "In a consolidating market, we're going to act strategically. We look forward to any opportunities as they come up in 2021." The company didn't comment for this article. Other digital media companies named in this article didn't immediately reply to requests for comment.

Few think Vice will want the scrutiny of a public market listing, though "emerging growth" SPACs have much less stringent rules when it comes to reporting historical figures or giving shareholders a say on pay, for example. "Bustle is in the best position; I would think they're all taking to SPACs," said one major financial player. Bustle declined to comment.

 

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