By Tom Wilson
LONDON (Reuters) – Major cryptocurrency exchange Binance will make a $200 million investment in Forbes, the media company said on Thursday, with the platform taking a stake through a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).
The investment by Binance, the world’s biggest crypto exchange by trading volumes, will replace half of the $400 million in commitments from investors already announced by Forbes and SPAC Magnum Opus Acquisition Limited.
The deal is expected to close by the end of March, Forbes and Magnum Opus said in a statement
“The transactions with Magnum Opus and Binance are expected to help Forbes maximize its brand and enterprise values,” the media company said.
Forbes said in August https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbespr/2021/08/26/forbes-to-become-public-company-through-business-combination-with-special-purpose-acquisition-company-magnum-opus/?sh=1eeb2f20320e that it would go public with SPAC company Magnum Opus in an attempt to build on its digital transition and pursue further chance for growth.
In February last year, Binance dropped a lawsuit https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.njd.451469/gov.uscourts.njd.451469.6.0.pdf against Forbes. It had in 2020 sued the company https://www.tbstat.com/wp/uploads/2020/11/Binance_Complaint.pdf and two journalists over a story Forbes published regarding the exchange’s corporate structure.
(Reporting by Tom Wilson; editing by Sujata Rao and Bernadette Baum)
