Shareholders in SPAC 890 5th Avenue Partners are expected to vote today on whether to merge with digital media company Buzzfeed, just as Buzzfeed News workers reportedly walked off the job virtually this morning.
The deal is expected to close tomorrow, New York Magazine reports, and by Monday the company could start trading under BZFD.
Jonah Peretti, BuzzFeed’s CEO, has already sent out invitations for the ringing of the bell on the Nasdaq floor and for a celebratory dinner at the Indian restaurant Sona.
BuzzFeed News employees tell New York magazine that its 61-member unit is (digitally) walking off the job for a 24-hour period, even as shareholders get ready to vote.
“There is no future of BuzzFeed without the workers, no product for them to take public,” says Addy Baird, a reporter and chair of BuzzFeed News’ union. The news division makes up just 5 percent of employees, but is Peretti’s vehicle for prestige. (It won BuzzFeed its first Pulitzer Prize this year.) Read more.
