Forbes, which tracks the wealthy and powerful, is considering using investment bank Citigroup to sell its business after a previous deal to go public failed, according to four people familiar with the process. clarified.
In recent weeks, Citi-edited solicitation documents outlining Forbes’ financial position have been circulated to companies in the media sector, including Yahoo, three of the people said. According to the document, Forbes said he generated more than $200 million in revenue and more than $40 million in profits in 2021, two of his people said.
Forbes is considering a sale at a valuation of at least $630 million, which it declared when it moved to go public through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), the people said. Forbes scrapped that plan this year.
Business publications have become a popular target for traders in recent years as they can attract wealthy advertisers and subscribers. The Dow Jones division of News Corp, which publishes The Wall Street Journal, bought Investors Business Daily last year, citing growth in its research business. Red Ventures, a private equity-backed digital media company, acquired finance-focused publisher Bankrate for his $1.4 billion in 2017.
Yahoo owns Yahoo Finance, a popular online site for financial news and information, which was sold last year to private equity firm Apollo for $5 billion. Since then, he has focused on building many products such as Yahoo Mail and Yahoo Sports.
Forbes canceled a deal to go public through SPAC in May as investor appetite for the once-popular financial product cooled.
Founded as a magazine in 1917, Forbes is known for ranking wealthy businessmen. Forbes said last year that his journalism, events and marketing programs reached more than 150 million people.forbes family sold a majority stake Joined Integrated Whale Media Investments in 2014.
Forbes still publishes in print eight times a year in the United States, with 45 licensed local versions covering 76 countries.
