The company, founded by Jonah Peretti in 2006 and initially known for listicles and online quizzes, has established itself as a serious contender in the news business, this year winning a Pulitzer for international reporting.
BuzzFeed also said Thursday that it plans to buy Complex Networks from Verizon and Hearst for US$300 million, a global youth network that engages with millennials and Gen Z. A number of companies this year have chosen a non-traditional path to putting their shares on the public market, choosing to skip partnerships with traditional financial institutions, and instead merging with a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC.
SPACs can cut up to 75 per cent off the time it takes for a company to get its stock trading on an exchange, versus the traditional process of an initial public offering. SPACs can also make it easier to get prospective buyers on board. Companies going the SPAC route often feel more license to highlight projections for big growth they're expecting in the future, for example.
BuzzFeed said that the parent company will be known as BuzzFeed Inc. Shares will trade under the ticker symbol “BZFD.” It is not yet known which exchange the stock will trade on.