BuzzFeed broadcasted that it has decided to obtain Complex Networks – a global youth entertainment company with a gigantic reach spanning elegance, sneakers, food, music, and pop ethos – from Hearst and Verizon.
The declaration trails BuzzFeed’s discovery that it is looking to go public by integration with 890 Fifth Avenue Partners, a distinct purpose attainment company (SPAC) with $288 million in cash in trust. BuzzFeed has also held around $150 million in convertible note financing led by Redwood Capital Management and counting CrossingBridge Advisors, Cohanzick Management LLC, and Silver Rock Financial LP. The $300 million gaining of Complex – comprising of $200 million in cash and $100M of equity in BuzzFeed, is anticipated to close in the fourth quarter of 2021 after the merger of 890 Fifth Avenue Partners and BuzzFeed.
The complex was co-founded by Marc Ecko and Rich Antoniello in 2002 as an entertainment brand and has progressed into a content powerhouse straddling digital, video, audio media, and live events with a connected community that reaches a multicultural spectator who shares a desire for what’s new and next in pop culture and style. Currently, Complex Networks comprises First We Feast (food entertainment), Complex (pop culture), Sole Collector (sneaker news), Pigeons and Planes (music discovery), and its festival of cultural conjunction ComplexCon. Resulting in the transaction, Complex Networks will continue editorially sovereign, but advantage from the application of BuzzFeed’s data science, lines of business, and distribution network, including commerce to hasten revenue growth.
After this acquisition, BuzzFeed will become even better poised to prosper in an age of media consolidation. BuzzFeed has the strongest list of brands in key categories: Complex Networks, encompassing streetwear and fashion, music, food and pop culture; two Pulitzer Prize-winning newsrooms, BuzzFeed News and HuffPost, that hold the powerful accountable, BuzzFeed, the flagship entertainment brand that curates the internet and the culture, and brings joy to its users with lists, quizzes and more; and Tasty Lifestyle Brands, which encoperates the world’s biggest food network and several other lifestyle brands that help its audiences live better.
Jonah Peretti, Founder, and CEO, BuzzFeed, said that he’s thrilled to welcome Complex Networks to BuzzFeed. The complex is one of the most exciting and energetic companies in the space and the right leader in entertainment and culture. Rich Antoniello, Founder and CEO of Complex Networks, stated, for almost 2 decades, Complex Networks has been a Rocketship and an outlier and in the business. Christian Baesler, President of Complex Networks added BuzzFeed’s exceptional method to data, originality, and commerce opens up many new openings for Complex Networks’ progressive growth. Just like, they’ve been cautious and steadfast in their track to triumph.
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