Less than two weeks after Allen Media Group closed on the sale of a group of broadcast television stations to Gray Media for $171 million, part of a strategic shift to invest in non-broadcast opportunities by comedian turned media mogul Byron Allen, his Allen Family Digital LLC has reached an agreement to acquire the parent of internet content hubs HuffPost and Tasty — BuzzFeed Inc.
With an AMG representative declining further comment when contacted early Tuesday by RBR+TVBR, the company spokesperson pointed to a late Monday announcement confirming the transaction agreement.
Terms call for BuzzFeed to accept a majority investment from Allen Family Digital LLC, as BuzzFeed Founder and CEO Jonah Peretti will be succeeded by Mr. Allen, who will assume the role of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer upon closing. Peretti will remain involved by taking a newly created role as President of BuzzFeed AI.
Financial terms see Allen Family Digital acquiring 40 million shares of “BZFD,” which trades on Nasdaq and was priced at $1.53 per share as of 9:55am Eastern on Tuesday — up 83 cents on the report. Allen is purchasing the BuzzFeed shares at an ultrapremium price of $3.00 per share, for a total purchase price of $120 million. BZFD hasn’t been near $3 since early December 2024.
While AMG received more than $100 million from Gray Media, Allen Family Digital will be paying $20 million in cash at closing to obtain BuzzFeed. The remaining $100 million will be tied to a Promissory Note at 5% interest, spread over 60 months.
The transaction is currently expected to close by the end of this month.
The market cap for BuzzFeed increased to $59.5 million based on the Tuesday morning stock surge, from $27 million as of Monday evening.
“Byron Allen has built one of the world’s largest media companies and is one of the most accomplished media entrepreneurs in the industry, having spent 30-plus years transforming distribution infrastructure, identifying strategic assets, and scaling them into something much greater,” said Jonah Peretti, BuzzFeed Founder and CEO. “Byron’s vision, operational experience, and long-term commitment to premium content makes him exceptionally well-positioned to lead BuzzFeed and HuffPost into our next phase of growth. And personally, I’m thrilled Byron is taking over ‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert’s’ time slot, and highly confident that his relationships with talent will bring some incredible stars to the BuzzFeed platform.”
“To prepare for his arrival, we are planning to make significant changes, including cost reductions and setting up BuzzFeed Studios (including vertical micro-dramas, animation, digital video, and premium studio including feature films) and Tasty as a new independent entity. This investment in our business and Byron’s management roles will provide liquidity and operational focus to BuzzFeed, Inc.,” Peretti continued.
“I will transition to a newly created role as President of BuzzFeed AI. After 20 years as CEO of BuzzFeed, I’m excited to switch my focus to a more hands-on role developing products and technology that are only possible because of recent advances in AI. I’m convinced that AI will fundamentally transform the media industry and empower creative people to build in new ways, and I believe the opportunity is enormous,” Peretti added.
“Jonah is a great visionary and has done a phenomenal job. BuzzFeed and HuffPost have become two iconic global digital media brands with powerful audience reach and strong cultural importance,” said Byron Allen, incoming Chairman and CEO of BuzzFeed. “Our vision is to build on the iconic foundation of BuzzFeed and HuffPost by expanding into free-streaming video, audio and user-generated content. As of this moment, with the power of AI, BuzzFeed is officially chasing YouTube to become another premiere free video streaming service.”
Jonah Peretti co-founded BuzzFeed in 2006 and has served as the Company’s Chief Executive Officer since its founding. Under his leadership, BuzzFeed became one of the defining digital media brands of a generation, pioneering social distribution, viral content, and AI-assisted publishing. In his new role as President of BuzzFeed AI, Peretti will bring his strategic focus to applied AI research, product innovation, and the development of new technology-driven media formats.
Byron Allen is the Founder, Chairman and CEO of Allen Media Group which he founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Los Angeles. Allen owns 13 ABC-CBS-NBC network affiliate broadcast television stations in 11 U.S. markets and ten 24-hour HD television networks serving nearly 275 million subscribers: THE WEATHER CHANNEL, PETS.TV, COMEDY.TV, RECIPE.TV, CARS.TV, ES.TV, MYDESTINATION.TV, JUSTICECENTRAL.TV, THEGRIO TELEVISION NETWORK, and HBCU GO. Allen also owns the digital streaming platforms HBCU GO, SPORTS.TV, LOCAL NOW and THE WEATHER CHANNEL STREAMING APP. Allen owns a two-hour nightly comedy block on CBS Network and also produces, distributes, and sells advertising for 74 television programs, making him one of the largest independent producers/distributors of first-run syndicated television programming for broadcast television stations, cable networks, and digital platforms.
