Forbes eyes up a sale after Spac IPO snub
Forbes has said it is exploring a sale just months after it pulled out of its special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) plans.
The media titan confirmed the news with City PM this evening that it had hired Citigroup to manage the formal sale process.
It is not yet clear the exact timelines nor the price of the sale, but the New York Times, which first reported the news, suggested it would be at least $630m.
The New York Times also suggested in its report that an offering document had been sent around to a number of companies in the media sphere, which could be potential suitors for Forbes.
The US firm u-turned on its $630m Hong Kong listing, citing “the deteriorating Spac market” as the main driver.
The cash shell companies offer firms an alternative route to market via a merger, bypassing the traditional IPO and slashing associated fees and timelines.
Despite a boom during the pandemic, investors and regulators have grown increasingly sceptical about the hype.
“There were many interested parties, so we moved forward with a formal sale process and Citigroup was hired to manage this process,” a Forbes spokesperson said in an emailed response.