Forbes Media, the company that publishes Forbes magazine and its website, told its employees today that it is putting itself up for sale. CEO Mike Perlis told employees the news in a memo today.
The publisher, which is based in New York, said it will work with Deutsche Bank AG to find potential buyers, reports Bloomberg. Forbes is hoping to go for at least $400 million, but a source told the site that $200 million is more likely.
“We have received more than a few ‘over the transom’ indications of interest to buy Forbes Media,” Perlis, who was the first non-member of the Forbes family to take the CEO job, wrote in the memo, reports The New York Times. “The frequency and serious nature of these overtures have brought us to a decision point. We’re organizing a process to test the waters regarding a sale of Forbes Media.”
He added that “we expect interest from numerous suitors.”
Forbes was founded in 1917 by B.C. Forbes and had been run by the family until 2010, when Perlis was hired to be CEO. He was hired after the company needed to be restructured thanks to Steve Forbes two failed presidential campaigns and the expensive transition to digital media. Perlis did succeed in some areas, creating a network of 1,200 bloggers and having journalists create marketing content.
However, these moves did little to help Forbes become more valuable, Roger McNamee’s Elevation Partners does own 45 percent of Forbes, paying $240 million in 2006.
Forbes will be the latest magazine to change hands. Over the summer, Newsweek was sold to IBT Media and in 2009, McGraw-Hill Cos. sold Businessweek.