NBCUniversal near deal to invest $250M in BuzzFeed
NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast, is interested in investing in BuzzFeed and raising its stake in Vox Media, according a person familiar with the matter.
NBCUniversal is close to finalizing an agreement for a $250 million investment in BuzzFeed, a deal that would value the digital publisher at about $1.5 billion, the person said, speaking anonymously because the talks are pending.
NBCUniversal's negotiations to raise Comcast's 14% equity stake in Vox Media are ongoing, the person said. But the Vox deal is also "close to being consummated" and would value Vox Media at about $850 million, according to Re/code, which first reported the financial terms being discussed among the parties.
Vox Media owns news site Vox.com, tech news sites Re/codeand TheVerge.com, and sports blog network SBNation.
NBCUniversal's interest in broadening its digital content and online publishing expertise was reported last week by The Wall Street Journal. The report said it was in talks with Vice Media, BuzzFeed, Business Insider and Vox Media.
BuzzFeed has been aggressively expanding its editorial operations to go beyond clickbait listicles and wacky pictures in an effort to draw readers for video, news and features. It has launched teams for such serious news as political coverage and investigative reporting, and its 400-member editorial team includes 170 news staffers, including more than 40 in the United Kingdom. Its revenue is projected to be about $250 million this year, Re/code reports, citing internal estimates.
With live TV audience shrinking and more of advertisers' spending steered to online video, cable networks' interest in online content distribution has heightened. And the sites that have established brands and sizable traffic have been fielding inquiries from traditional media companies for joint ventures and acquisitions.
Last year, Time Warner, whose subsidiary HBO has a video production deal with Vice Media, was in talks to buy Vice Media but pulled out over a pricing disagreement. In August 2014, A&E Networks invested $250 million in Vice Media and received a 10% stake in the company, whose holdings include magazines, online video channels, a news website, a documentary film unit and record labels.