Britain's The Independent signs deal to take control of BuzzFeed UK (updated)

BuzzFeed

28/03/2024 17:42

(Updates share movement in paragraph 2; adds details in
paragraphs 4 & 5)
       March 28 (Reuters) - British media group The Independent
will take control of BuzzFeed's  BZFD.O  editorial and
commercial operations in the UK and Ireland in a multi-year
licensing deal, the companies announced on Thursday.
    Shares of BuzzFeed, which signed a similar deal with online
media publisher Val Morgan Digital in Australia and New Zealand
last year, jumped about 10% to 44 cents.
    The move comes more than a month after Reuters reported the
ongoing talks between the media companies, citing a person
familiar with the matter.
    Around 30 people will join The Independent from BuzzFeed, as
part of the deal, a spokesperson for The Independent said in an
emailed response to Reuters. 
        However, both the companies declined to share the
financial terms of the deal.
    The deal with The Independent could help BuzzFeed as it
grapples with declining advertising and content revenue. Its
fourth-quarter revenue declined 26% to $75.7 million.
    Moreover, major media outlets, including the Los Angeles
Times and the Business Insider, have resorted to job cuts as
they navigate an uncertain economy.
    "The Independent would put resources behind our brands
across editorial and sales and offer a wider mix of products and
media bundling," BuzzFeed CFO Matthew Omer had said in a
post-earnings call earlier this week, while responding to a
query. 
    BuzzFeed, which shuttered its news unit in April last year,
was founded by Jonah Peretti and John Johnson in 2006 and went
public through a blank-check merger in 2021.

 (Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh
Kuber)
 ((Jaspreet.Singh@thomsonreuters.com; https://twitter.com/i_jass;))