Lead investor in bid to purchase Forbes is dropped

The consortium of investors looking to acquire Forbes has removed Sun Group as lead investor in the bid over concerns with the Indian investor group’s ties to Russia, reports Sara Fischer of Axios.

Fischer reports, “Sun Group’s deep connections with Russia have raised concerns about the deal’s ability to clear U.S. regulatory review. Forbes hoped to close the $800 million agreement by the end of March.

“Details: The move to have Sun Group dropped as lead investor was meant to minimize the role and influence that Sun Group vice chair Shiv Khemka would play in the agreement, one source noted. Khemka built his business and has lived in Russia for decades.

Sun Group will remain part of the bidding group, sources say.
GSV, a Silicon Valley-based investment firm that has long tried to get its hands on Forbes, remains a part of the consortium, but it will not be the lead investor either, sources say.
Instead, the consortium is targeting high-net individuals in the U.S., like tech billionaires, to come in as investors and make it so that U.S.-based firms and individuals make up the majority of funds raised for the bid.”

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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.