The Independent in talks to take control of BuzzFeed, HuffPost in UK - FT (updated)

BuzzFeed

15/02/2024 17:53

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       Feb 15 (Reuters) - British media group The Independent
is in talks to take control of BuzzFeed  BZFD.O  and Huffington
Post's operations in the UK and Ireland, the Financial Times
reported on Thursday.
    The Independent will assume all editorial and commercial
control of BuzzFeed in the UK under a licensing deal for its
various brands, according to the report, which cited people
familiar with the talks.
    The financial terms were not immediately available, the FT
reported.
    BuzzFeed and The Independent did not immediately respond to
Reuters requests for comment.
    The report comes at a time when major media outlets,
including the Los Angeles Times and the Business Insider, have
cut jobs in a bid to cut rising costs.
    BuzzFeed, which shuttered its news unit in April last year,
was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John Johnson, and went
public in 2021 through a blank-check merger.
    Shares of BuzzFeed jumped about 66% to 29 cents on Thursday.

 (Reporting by Jaspreet Singh, Akash Sriram and Samrhitha
Arunasalam in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Shounak
Dasgupta)
 ((Jaspreet.Singh@thomsonreuters.com; https://twitter.com/i_jass))