Forbes deal funding coming from foreign investors

The acquisition of Forbes is being primarily funded by foreign investors, reports Sara Fischer of Axios.

Fischer reports, “The deal structure has the effect of obfuscating how much money foreign groups may put in, which could help alleviate any regulatory concerns.

Forbes was ready to sell to the group of mostly foreign investors in March. But management feared regulatory pushback and pivoted, Axios previously reported.
Forbes also faced public criticism over the involvement of Indian investment firm Sun Group, which has had ties to Russia.

“Driving the news: Forbes on Friday quietly confirmed that Austin Russell, the 28-year-old American CEO of electric vehicle tech company Luminar Technologies, will acquire an 82% stake in the iconic media brand at an $800 million valuation.

But Forbes and Russell didn’t disclose how he would finance the roughly $656 million needed to foot his stake.”

Read more here.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.