Complex is sold to ecommerce company

A ecommerce startup backed by Universal Music Group and Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine is buying the music, culture, and streetwear digital media company Complex.

NTWRK, the live-stream online shopping platform with backing from Goldman Sachs and Main Street Advisors, announced on Wednesday that it had acquired Complex from BuzzFeed for $108 million. The company said it envisions using Complex’s connection with hip-hop fans and sneakerheads to deepen its relationships with high profile musicians and artists. This would, in turn, support NTWRK’s ecommerce business and “create a new destination for ‘superfan’ culture that will define the future of commerce, digital media, and music.”

“Complex has been a beacon of culture and innovation for over two decades” Aaron Levant, the new CEO of Complex, said in a press release. “My journey with Complex began as an admirer of their original magazine in 2002 and it has now come full circle as I step into the leadership role. Alongside this impressive team, we will create the definitive global content, commerce, and experiential platform of convergence culture.”

The move represents an admission of defeat for BuzzFeed, which bought Complex from Hearst and Verizon in 2021 for $300 million in cash and stock, nearly triple Wednesday’s sale price.

The sale also values the independent Complex at more than three times the market value of BuzzFeed-plus-Complex, $31.5 million as of Wednesday’s market close.

In a press release, BuzzFeed CFO Matt Omer acknowledged that ComplexCon, the brand’s signature event, did not bring in as much sponsorship revenue as the company had hoped. BuzzFeed also said it would also lay off 16% of its remaining staff, and focus on four businesses: the BuzzFeed and HuffPost sites, and the food businesses Tasty and First We Feast, which is not part of the sale to NTWRK. Best known for the celebrity interview show “Hot Ones,” First We Feast has proven more profitable than other parts of Complex’s business in recent years.

• Adweek first reported on the talks last fall, and said the deal was valued at $140 million.
• BuzzFeed acquired Complex when it went public through a SPAC, and has since seen its stock price collapse.