BuzzFeed Inc announced the sale of its US popular website Complex to NTWRK, an e-commerce company specializing in collectible items rooted in street and pop culture. The move is part of the company to scale back and keep the organisation small and nimble.
The sale transaction is $108.6 million all cash deal. In addition to the $108.6 million purchase price, the company received approximately $5.7 million related to the use of the company’s NY offices and severance and other employment related costs.
“The sale of Complex represents an important strategic step for BuzzFeed, Inc. as we adapt our business to be more profitable, more nimble, and more innovative.” said BuzzFeed, Inc. CEO Jonah Peretti. “This is also an opportunity to unlock greater value for the Complex brand by combining it with NTWRK’s expansive, commerce-driven business.”
Media commentator, Thabo Joel Ramasike said: “The media landscapes is changing while some says it’s a moving target, hard to pin it down. The past two weeks we saw a number of media organisation layoffs staff members. On the other hand some media houses are face with closure or being sold for not yielding profits.”
Peretti adds, “The changes we announced today will enable an exciting next stage for our company, with increased focus on our iconic brands — BuzzFeed, HuffPost, First We Feast and Hot Ones, and Tasty; a more efficient cost structure and operational model; and the ability to accelerate innovation powered by AI and interactive content formats. I look forward to sharing more in the coming months.”
“During the fourth quarter our experiential business was impacted in the form of lower sponsorship revenues for the brand’s annual flagship event, ComplexCon, we believe as a result of the Complex asset being held for sale,” said Matt Omer, CFO of BuzzFeed, Inc.
“Further, our overall revenue performance reflects the challenges of delivering against our bundled go-to-market strategy in a tighter digital advertising market. As a result, we have made the decision to reduce the size of our centralized operations enabling our individual brands to operate with more autonomy and deliver against their differentiated value propositions for advertisers.”
