Digital media companies pump the brakes on their rush to go public as SPAC market cools

Digital media companies pump the brakes on their rush to go public as SPAC market cools

This was the supposed to be the Summer of Digital Media.Amidst a boom of special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), companies including Buzzfeed, Vice, Vox, Bustle and others targeted this summer as a likely timeline for going public.Five months into the year, executives and advisors now think that's not going to happen.A major slowdown in SPAC issuance, driven by new accounting guidance by the Securities and Exchange Commission, has forced many digital media companies to reassess their timeline on going public, according to four people familiar with the matter.Buzzfeed is still expected to find a SPAC partner later this year, said three of the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private. But other companies, such as Vice and Bustle, that thought there may be a path to going public on their own in the coming months have pulled back, said the people. Vice was in advanced talks to merge with 7GC & Co Holdings, The Information reported in March, but those talks have stalled, according to people familiar with the matter.Spokespeople at Buzzfeed and Vice declined to comment.

SPAC slowdown

A SPAC raises capital in an initial public offering as a so-called blank check company without a target