BuzzFeed’s shareholders voted in favor of taking the company public on Friday as the media company completes its merger with a special purpose acquisition company 890 5th Avenue Partners and acquires Complex Networks.
BuzzFeed is expected to begin trading Monday and is the first digital media property to do so.
“The new company is now known as BuzzFeed, Inc., and its shares of Class A common stock and warrants are expected to commence trading on The Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbols “BZFD” and “BZFDW”, respectively, on Monday, December 6, 2021,” the company said in its statement.
The previously announced $150.0 million convertible notes offering closed concurrently with the business combination.
In the days leading up to the vote, BuzzFeed had been facing troubles as writers walked out and investors pulled their funds as they questioned its prospects. While it hoped to raise hundreds of millions as a SPAC, it raised just over $16 million as the deal got approved. About 94% of the $287.5 million the SPAC raised earlier this year has been withdrawn by investors, according to its securities filing.
They said at the time that at the deal’s closing, BuzzFeed’s implied valuation would be $1.5 billion. With the funding from the merger, the company also acquired Complex Networks for $300 million — $200 million in cash and $100 million of equity.
The closure comes one day after the BuzzFeed News Union announced a walkout amid stalled contract talks with the site’s management.
“We’ve been bargaining our contract for almost 2 years, but BuzzFeed won’t budge on critical issues like wages — all while preparing to go public and make executives even richer. So TODAY, we’re walking out to send a reminder that there’s no BuzzFeed News without us,” read a Thursday tweet from the union’s account.
A representative for the outlet said in a statement to TheWrap, “There’s a bargaining session planned for next Tuesday where we hope the union will present a response on these issues. Before then, the company is gearing up for an incredibly exciting milestone: becoming the first publicly traded digital media company, and acquiring Complex Networks. We couldn’t be more excited about everything that lies ahead for BuzzFeed and its employees.”