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BuzzFeed's latest moves are part of a larger trend of formerly acquisitive digital media companies transitioning from buyers to sellers.

Why it matters: Once high-flying media brands are shrinking as the digital ad market tightens further, Kerry writes.

Driving the news: BuzzFeed announced the sale of Complex for $108.6 million, a company it paid nearly triple for as part of its SPAC in 2021. BuzzFeed said yesterday that the sale does not include "Hot Ones" producer First We Feast.

BuzzFeed also said it will lay off 16% of its workforce.

The Independent is in talks to take control of BuzzFeed's U.K. and Ireland operations for both BuzzFeed and HuffPost, per Reuters.

BuzzFeed has explored selling its food brands, First We Feast and Tasty, per The Wall Street Journal.

By the numbers: BuzzFeed's shares have been pennies on the dollar for nearly a year, with a market cap well below what it just earned for Complex.

State of play: Digital media companies previously sought to succeed through acquiring and launching new properties. But that has changed in a big way. 

Vox Media, which an executive once dubbed the "most acquisitive company" in digital media, spun off its political brand NowThis last year. It laid off 4% of its overall staff in November and 7% last January.

Vice Media, acquired by a Fortress-led syndicate after filing for bankruptcy, sold i-D magazine to Karlie Kloss and laid off staff last year. It also was in talks to sell Refinery29, per WSJ.

G/O Media, owned by private equity firm Great Hill Partners, sold Lifehacker to Ziff Davis last March and Jezebel and Splinter to Paste in November. However, CEO Jim Spanfeller recently told Axios the company could still pursue acquisitions in its "passion areas."

BDG has done continuous rounds of layoffs. It recently cut editorial staffers on its parenting brand Fatherly, per Adweek. That came after at least four rounds of layoffs over 12 months.

BuzzFeed and peers are in survival mode

1 big thing: Survival mode for digital media

Animated illustration of a pixelated newspaper icon being obscured by a falling metal garage door.

A group of Hollywood directors led by Jason Reitman is buying the Village Theater in Los Angeles' Westwood neighborhood.

Why it's the BFD: The 93-year-old theater is the latest from Hollywood's golden age to be rescued from extinction by the industry itself, Tim writes.

Details: Reitman is joined by more than 30 other famous directors, including Steven Spielberg, Christopher Nolan and Bradley Cooper.

All 36 directors have a financial stake in the theater, which will be restored.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, though the theater was put up for sale last summer with a $12 million asking price.

The Village Theater, located near UCLA, has been the home to numerous Hollywood premieres since its inception in 1931.

Zoom out: Hollywood directors and studios have been buying up iconic, single-screen movie theaters facing closure as the movie theater business shrinks.

Quentin Tarantino bought The Vista Theatre in early 2021, which followed his purchase of New Beverly Cinema in 2007.

Netflix reopened the 101-year-old Egyptian Theatre last November after buying it in 2020. In 2019, Netflix signed a deal to take over operating New York's Paris Theater, which was also facing closure.

2. The BFD: 🍿 Village people 

"Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" Los Angeles Premiere at the Village Theater in 2001 

Los Angeles premiere of "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" at the Village Theater in 2001. Photo by J. P. Aussenard/WireImage

Go deeper in our full database in the Axios Pro Deals Tracker.

• Moonshot AI, a Chinese AI startup, raised over $1b in a Series B round. https://axios.link/48tcUwy

• BRIA, a Israeli visual generative AI platform, raised $24m in Series A funding led by GFT Ventures, Intel Capital and Entrée Capital. https://axios.link/49JPIeu

• Orkes, a microservices orchestration platform, raised $20m in Series A funding led by Nexus Venture Partners. https://axios.link/3wzbSBV

• Loora, an Israeli AI startup focused on English fluency, raised $12m in Series A funding led by QP Ventures. https://axios.link/48pD2bK

• Reddit signed a content licensing deal with Google to train its AI models for $60m per year, per Reuters. https://axios.link/42MCn34

3. Deal flow

• Deborah Camiel, journalist and documentary producer, will lead the media and entertainment institute launched by the Anti-Defamation League. https://axios.link/49m89Xb

• Jeff Gaspin, former NBCU TV chairman, will join Netflix as VP of unscripted series. https://axios.link/3T7q6D0

• Robert Lawson, Sony Pictures chief communications officer, was promoted to lead all comms for Sony Group Corp. in Tokyo. https://axios.link/3uOnIYo

4. Movin' on up (or out)

🎥 A24's risky Hollywood moment (Bloomberg Businessweek)

"The company is moving into more costly genres such as sports and action while mining existing franchises, including a Spike Lee remake of the Akira Kurosawa classic 'High and Low' and a new Peacock horror series, 'Crystal Lake,' a prequel to the 'Friday the 13th' series," Felix Gillette writes.

😔 Process of elimination: Why layoffs are hitting media, tech and gaming — despite their steep costs (Variety)

"'It's pressure from investors,' says the Wharton School professor of management Peter Cappelli. For example, if investors decide a big tech company has overhired and pressure it to make layoffs, those adjacent to it feel compelled to do the same, he says," Jennifer Maas writes.

📺 Amazon insists "no changes" coming to Freevee despite reports of potential shutdown (Deadline)

"Adweek, citing three unidentified sources, reported earlier Wednesday that Amazon plans to address that confusion and inefficiency by shutting down Freevee in the coming weeks, ahead of the NewFronts. The tech giant has been cutting costs of late," Dade Hayes and Nellie Andreeva write.

5. Channel surfing

an illustration of a hula dancer figurine on top of a vintage television set

📣 Worthy of your time: Our second annual Axios Pro subscriber survey is now live! Share your feedback to let us know what you want to see from Pro Deals in the next year.

@tim_bays: "The Dynasty: New England Patriots" on Apple TV+. In an era where too many sports documentaries are nothing more than glorified PR, everyone (including Bill Belichick) is refreshingly honest.

@kerrymflynn: "Mean Girls" at AMC Theatres. Reneé Rapp's voice is unreal. Loved Auli'i Cravalho's whole performance. Avantika's "Sexy" performance stole the show.  

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

Thank you for reading Axios Pro Media Deals! Please ask your friends, colleagues and cinephiles to sign up.

February 22, 2024

1 big thing: Survival mode for digital media