Forbes enters into exclusive talks to be sold for $600 million plus

Forbes Media LLC has entered exclusive talks to be acquired by a group led by Michael Moe’s GSV Asset Management, in a deal that values the business-news publisher at more than $600 million, reports Gillian Tan of Bloomberg News.

Tan reports, “While a transaction isn’t finalized, it’s possible it may be agreed in coming months, said the people, who requested anonymity as the talks are private.

“‘We have no comment, but investors have consistently shown interest in Forbes, which has produced three years of record results,’ Forbes spokesman Matthew Hutchison said in a statement. ‘2021 is shaping up to be a strong year as well.’ A GSV Asset Management representative declined to comment.

“In 2014, Hong Kong-based Integrated Whale Media Investments acquired a controlling stake in Forbes in a deal that valued the company at $475 million. Forbes’s founding family retained a minority stake following that transaction, it said at the time.”

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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.