Sale of Forbes is close

Final offers to acquire Forbes Media, the parent of the business magazine Forbes, were due on Sunday, report Stefania Bianchi, George Smith Alexander and Zijing Wu of Bloomberg News.

They write, “The sale of Forbes, famous for tracking the wealth of billionaires across the globe, follows years of dwindling profits as the rise of digital media ate into advertising at the magazine. During the sale process, Forbes executives have emphasized the brand as a masthead for events and conferences as well as real-estate developments, a way of extending beyond its roots in traditional media, two people said.

“‘Forbes used to just be a magazine, now it’s a worldwide business brand,’ Ken Doctor, a media analyst with Outsell Inc., said in an interview. ‘How many people in their twenties and thirties are in emerging business markets — Asia, Africa, Latin America? That’s my sense of the great growth potential of the Forbes brand.’

“Spice Global, whose businesses range from finance to health care and entertainment, is currently seeking partners from the Middle East, the U.S. and Singapore as it prepares its bid for Forbes, said two of the people. The company will keep a majority stake in Forbes even if it bids with a partner and may offer the Forbes family the opportunity to buy back shares in the company, one of the people said.”

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