Big news in the online media space: Buzzfeed on Friday announced it had purchased Complex Networks in a deal valued at $300 million. Complex Networks will be housed under an umbrella including BuzzFeed News, HuffPost, and Tasty. Complex Networks founder and CEO Rich Antoniello will serve in two-year strategic advisory role to BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti .
Complex was founded as a bi-monthly magazine by fashion designer Marc “Ecko” Milecofsk in 2002. Formerly a senior editor at Vibe, Antoniello joined the publication in 2005. In April 2007, Complex soft-launched a media network with four websites: NahRight, Nice Kicks, SlamxHype and MoeJackson.
BuzzFeed also announced it plans to go public via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). The company’s ambitious plans at least for now ends what has been a long period of financial uncertainty.
Targeting a $1.5 billion evaluation, the stock will be listed under the ticker BZFD. BuzzFeed had originally planned to go public in 2018, but had to abandon plans when Facebook became less friendly to media platforms using the site, a move that gutted traffic for multiple platforms.
Below, check out the chart mapping out the various digital media holding companies via Axios below.
