So the rumors about Forbes trying to sell a stake in the company were true: The Forbes family has formed a new company, Forbes Media, which includes the 89-year-old Forbes magazine; the Forbes.com site; and a number of smaller media properties, and sold a “significant minority stake” to Elevation Partners, a private equity group, reports David Carr in NYT. Elevation has Bono as one of its partners.
The two parties didn’t say how much stake was sold, but the deal gave Elevation a stake of more than 40 percent at a cost of $250 million to $300 million, says NYT, citing sources. AdAge, when it reported first about the stake sale rumors in May, mentioned that the company had been looking to find an investor to buy up to 25% of the company.
Proceeds from the sale will be used both to invest in the business and to pay out money to members of the family.
This is interesting: Says Carr in the story: it was clear from talking with [Roger] McNamee that his group was buying into a website with a magazine attached, as opposed to the other way around. The deal was being shopped for months by J. P. Morgan, the story said.
Updated: The companies has issued a formal release, here.
Related:
-- Forbes Looking For Investor?
-- Steve Forbes: Keeping Print and Online Separate