A former internet giant is shopping around one of the few valuable assets it has left: that show where celebs make fools of themselves while eating spicy chicken wings.
Driving the news: BuzzFeed is going through a formal sales process to offload First We Feast, the brand behind the YouTube series Hot Ones, per Bloomberg. The brand has attracted interest, but a ~US$70 million price tag has scared off prospective buyers.
- Unlike most BuzzFeed operations, First We Feast is profitable — generating ~$30 million in yearly revenue, largely thanks to Hot Ones licensing and branding deals.
Why it matters: BuzzFeed’s ongoing fire sale — which included dumping Complex earlier this year at a ~$191 million loss — has set the tone for the broader digital media sphere. In a few short years, acquisitive digital media groups have turned from buyers to panicky sellers.
- Other companies that sold outlets for spare change in the past year include Vice Media, which sold i-D and Refinery29, and G/O Media, which sold Deadspin and The A.V. Club.
Zoom out: BuzzFeed is running out of time to pay over $100 million in debts. One person who thinks he can turn the ship around is ex-U.S. presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy, who met with BuzzFeed’s CEO last week after launching an activist investor campaign.—QH