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BFD Expert Voices - Media Deals

BFD Expert Voices

A SaaS product to support diversity, equity and inclusion recruiting will be an "engine of growth" for Blavity, alongside continuing to monetize its own brands and others, COO Jeff Nelson tells Kerry.

Why it matters: Media companies look to software businesses as a way to extend a brand's value and diversify revenue.

Details: "When we look ahead three years from now to 2025, 2026, we think that the biggest part of our business and the growing part of our business is going to be helping companies get connected to diverse talent through our events and through our SaaS platform," Nelson says.

"We're still bullish on media. We think that media, especially multicultural media, we still think that there is growth there," Nelson says. "But we do recognize that for media there are other opportunities beyond just advertising."

Nelson defines Blavity as a "tech-enabled media company" with three businesses. It has its own media brands, an ad network for other multicultural publishers called Blavity360, and Talent Infusion, which includes its recently launched SaaS product and its AfroTech franchise.

Nelson says the company is profitable. He declined to disclose exact revenue figures but said it is on track to grow this year. The company reported that its ad revenue doubled over the past year.

Catch up quick: Morgan DeBaun (who serves as CEO), Aaron Samuels, Jonathan Jackson and Nelson co-founded Blavity in 2014 as a media business aimed at Black millennials.

Blavity was initially bootstrapped, but the team has since raised some venture capital. In 2018, it closed a $6.5 million Series A round led by GV with participation from Comcast Ventures, Plexo Capital and Baron Davis Enterprises.

What's next: Nelson says Blavity does not need to raise funding but is open to inbound requests.

"We're willing to partner with anyone that is going to help us to continue to do what we do and scale it up and be excellent," he says. "But that aside, we've got a plan."

1 big thing: Blavity COO on new tech product

Photo illustration of Jeff Nelson, COO of Blavity, set amongst blue and gold graphic shapes and lines 

Blavity COO Jeff Nelson. Photo illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios. Photo: Robin L Marshall/Getty Images for Blavity Inc 

Blackstone is nearing a deal to acquire a majority stake in New Tradition Media that would value the billboard operator at $500 million to $750 million, Bloomberg reports. 

Why it's the BFD: Out-of-home ad networks have reported strong post-pandemic market positions, providing attractive investments for private equity, Kerry writes.

Details: The deal would have CEO Evan Richheimer and COO Bret Richheimer continue to run the company, per Bloomberg. 

New Tradition Media was founded in 2010 and has offices in New York and Los Angeles. It defines its "marquee asset" as 1 Times Square, per the company's website. The company's reach extends to other major U.S. cities, such as San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Las Vegas. 

New Tradition Media and Blackstone did not respond to requests for comment.

The big picture: Private equity firms recently have been investing in OOH businesses. Solomon Partners' Mark Boidman said at a roundtable for reporters earlier this month that his firm is committed to the sector. "Out-of-home is the best bang for your buck" for advertisers, he said. 

Solomon Partners served as the financial adviser for Universal Branding Group in its recent deal selling Times Square billboards to Providence Equity Partners. 

Clear Channel Outdoor could be open to a private equity bid as activist hedge fund Legion Partners is pushing for it to explore a range of options, including the sale of the entire company. 

Blackstone eyes billboard operator New Tradition

2. The BFD: Bright lights for Blackstone

New Tradition Media's 1 Times Square billboard. Photo: Gotham/GC Images

• O2 Investment Partners, the Midwestern-based private equity firm, invested in Inkhouse, a Boston-based communications firm, through BerlinRosen Holdings. https://axios.link/3IspUIY

• Mediobanca agreed to buy Arma Partners, a London-based tech advisory firm. https://axios.link/3OqvVts

• Sony Music Masterworks, a unit of Sony Music Entertainment, acquired a majority stake in Proactiv Entertainment, a Barcelona-based producer of live music and experiential events. https://axios.link/3MgSb6i

• Anonymous Content partnered with Morena Films to launch a joint venture for developing and producing Spanish-language content. https://axios.link/43g72Vh

• Innovid said it received a delisting notice from the New York Stock Exchange because its average closing price was less than $1 over a period of 30 consecutive trading days. https://axios.link/3BOYkSu

3. Deal flow

• ABC News hired The Economist's G. Elliott Morris as its editorial director of data analytics after Nate Silver's departure. https://axios.link/42S64yO

• CNN promoted Phil Nelson to its international business operations. He was previously COO of CNN International Commercial. https://axios.link/3WqCyh5

• Jeff Jordan is stepping back from making new investments at Andreessen Horowitz, where he led deals like Pinterest. https://axios.link/3BIJrRs

4. Movin' on up (or out)

🎟️ Why you can't find cheap Taylor Swift concert tickets (Axios)

"What Swift didn't also use … was a separate Ticketmaster program called Face Value Ticket Exchange. This would have prevented brokers and others from reselling tickets for more than face value (plus fees)," Dan Primack writes.

😬 Tensions flare inside The Messenger, a fledgling news site (NYT)

"Journalists have chafed at demands to mass-produce articles based on competitors’ stories. Senior editors huddled with staff on Thursday to address criticism of the site … And a politics editor quit on Friday after a clash with the company's audience chief," Benjamin Mullin reports.

🐦 Twitter no longer "high risk" after new chief hired, says top ad group (FT)

"WPP-owned GroupM, one of the world's top media agencies, has told clients it no longer considers Twitter 'high risk,' just days after Elon Musk appointed advertising stalwart Linda Yaccarino as the social media platform's new chief," Hannah Murphy and Daniel Thomas report.

5. Channel surfing

Illustration of a remote control in the shape of a surfboard leaning against a VW bus.

🗣️ Quote of the day: "He works hard, he sweats the details, and he gives a damn," JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon told the NYT of NBCUniversal's Mike Cavanagh.

@kerrymflynn: "Midnights" by Taylor Swift. Devastated it's over but ecstatic it happened. 

✏️ Thanks to Michael Flaherty for editing and Katie Lewis for copy editing this newsletter.

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May 22, 2023

1 big thing: Blavity COO on new tech product