The adage - out with the old and in with the new - has gotten a new spin to it with the latest Binance and Forbes deal.
The world's largest cryptocurrency platform Binance, in a first, has made a $200 million strategic investment in news publisher Forbes.
The move comes at a time when established financial institutions have started embracing cryptocurrencies but Americans are still clueless about it.
According to a new survey by Harris Poll, more than one in 10 American adults have never heard of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, ethereum and dogecoin, as reported by Bloomberg.
And sometimes those who have heard of them are wary of them either because they say they don't understand them at all or because they believe that they are very risky and volatile assets.
In a tweet, Binance Founder and Chief Executive, Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao described it as, "invest in both new and old, and bridge them with crypto."
Experts believe this is the moment for crypto to get mainstream attention.
"Binance’s stake in Forbes is another glowing example of the rapid growth of crypto that we have been experiencing recently," said Founder of Parallel Finance Yubo Ruan in an emailed statement.
"Witnessing one of the oldest brands in blockchain become one of the biggest owners of a brand like Forbes is an incredible moment for our industry to gain even more attention in mainstream media. This is another exciting step on the journey to adoption for blockchain, who knows what will happen next!," Ruan added.
Parallel Finance is a new decentralized lending platform (DeFi).
Binance has said that media is an essential element to build widespread consumer understanding and education around Web 3 and blockchain technologies.
"We look forward to bolstering Forbes’ Digital initiatives, as they evolve into a next level investment insights platform,” said Binance Founder and Chief Executive, Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao, in a statement.
“Forbes is committed to demystifying the complexities and providing helpful information about blockchain technologies and all emerging digital assets,” said Forbes Chief Executive Mike Federle in a statement.
New Binance and Old Forbes Deal
To be sure, the investment is being made jointly towards Forbes and its special purpose acquisition company Magnum Opus Acquisition Limited.
Forbes announced plans of going public with a SPAC in August last year. The deal is expected to raise $600 million, including $200 million cash from Magnum Opus and $400 million through a private placement of the new company's shares.
Forbes will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol FRBS. The company is expected to make its stock market debut in the first quarter of this year.
Binance funds will help Forbes maximize its brand and enterprise values and use its proprietary technology stack and analytics to convert readers into long-term, engaged customers of the platform, including through memberships and recurring subscriptions to premium content and highly targeted product offerings.
Binance will invest funds through subscription agreements representing $200 million of commitments in the $400 million private investment in public equity (“PIPE”) that was previously announced along with Forbes’ intention to go public, the company said.
The overall size of the PIPE will remain at $400 million.
As part of the deal, Head of Binance Labs Bill Chin and Binance Chief Communications Officer Patrick Hillmann will join the Forbes Board of Directors upon the successful closing of the business combination transaction, expected this quarter.
News publisher BuzzFeed (BZFD) made its Nasdaq debut through a SPAC deal in December last year.
BuzzFeed raised $16.2 million via its SPAC merger partner, 890 5th Avenue Partners, compared with the $288 million it had hoped to raise.
Most of 890 5th Avenue Partners' investors declined to participate in the BuzzFeed deal, Bloomberg reported.
Shares of BuzzFeed have fallen 51.5% to date since its public listing on Dec 6.
