Source: Craig Barritt/Getty
BuzzFeed sells out Composite Media on an e-commerce platform to strengthen its financial base and also announced layoffs across the company.
According References, BuzzFeed sold Complex Media to e-commerce platform Ntwrk. The group announced the sale on Wednesday (February 21), which cost $108.6 million in an all-cash deal. Universal Music Group will be a strategic partner in the deal, with Jimmy Iovine, Goldman Sachs and Main Street Advisors as investors. Complex's core franchises, including First We Feast and Hot Ones, will remain under the BuzzFeed Inc. umbrella. Ntwrk released a video announcing the acquisition and their plans for the new company to be “an e-commerce platform anchored in sneakers, streetwear and collectibles with content and music.”
The deal too includes BuzzFeed is getting $5.7 million for Complex's use of its New York offices, in addition to “severance and other work-related costs.” BuzzFeed also announced there will be a round of layoffs to cut costs, expected to kill about 16 percent of its remaining employees. It's the second such round since last April, when BuzzFeed shuttered its news division and laid off 180 employees.
“The sale of Complex represents an important strategic step for BuzzFeed Inc. as we adapt our business to be more profitable, more agile and more innovative,” said BuzzFeed Inc.'s CEO. Jonah Peretti in a press release. “This is also an opportunity to unlock greater value for the Complex brand by combining it with Ntwrk's expanding commerce-based business.” BuzzFeed originally acquired Complex Media in 2021 for $294 million. The brand said it would provide more details on its restructuring on February 28.
“Complex has been a beacon of culture and innovation for over two decades,” Ntwrk co-founder Aaron Levant said in a statement. “My journey with Complex began as a fan of their original magazine in 2002 and has now come full circle as I step into the leadership role. Together with this impressive team, we will create the definitive global content, commerce and experiential platform of the convergence culture.” Interscope Geffen A&M and Capitol Music Group have already indicated their intentions to work with the new label. “Combining the power and reach of Complex with the Ntwrk engine serving creators across music, fashion and art will transform the next generation of consumer technology,” Iovine said in a statement about the deal.
