Forbes parent terminates deal to sell

Forbes CEO Mike Federle sent out the following on Tuesday:

Hi everyone —

This morning our parent Integrated Whale Media terminated its agreement to sell Forbes to the Austin Russell-led Investor Group, which couldn’t deliver the closing.

The cancellation of this sale does not affect our day-to-day operations or business goals. In fact, we are well positioned to continue delivering strong results and enhance the value of our incomparable global brand.

Thanks to the incredible work of everyone on this team, we will exceed our financial goals again in fiscal 2023, which you’ll hear more about in the coming weeks in my end of the year message.

Because of our consistently strong performance, there has been no shortage of investment interest in our company over the years, and we will continue to consider other opportunities that can accelerate our growth strategy. Equally important, the IWM team remains committee to ensuring our success. Under their ownership over the past nine years, our business has more than doubled, growing our annual revenue more than 140%, and as a result our value has increased steadily.

This is because we have diversified our business across branded ventures and ecommerce initiatives all will continuing to drive some of the most impactful journalism in the industry.

We’re going to continue to invest, keep our eyes on the future, and move forward as planned. The Forbes team is the best in the business, and we have a clear path forward to achieve success. Thank you all again for your hard work and dedication.

— Mike