Forbes considers SPAC, and investor bid for $700 million

Forbes Media is in talks to go public through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company as it attracts acquisition interest, including an offer for $700 million, according to a Reuters report.

Joshua Franklin, Echo Wang and Krystal Hu of Reuters report, “Forbes’ owner is also fielding offers from bidders including investment vehicle Borderless Services Inc, which has bid $700 million, and from a consortium led by tech investor Michael Moe, the sources said. Both of these bids would result in Forbes remaining a privately held company.

“A deal could result in Forbes’ ownership changing hands seven years after Hong Kong-based investor group Integrated Whale Media Investments purchased 95% of the company. The remainder of Forbes is owned by the Forbes family.

“A proposed deal with a SPAC would take Forbes public on the U.S. stock market, enabling the existing owners to benefit from any share price increase on their remaining stakes.”

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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.