First We Feast snapped up by consortium of investors
BuzzFeed has sold the studio behind YouTube smash interview format Hot Ones for more than £65m.
First We Feast has been bought in an $82.5m (£65.3m) all-cash deal to a consortium led by the show’s host Sean Evans and First We Feast founder Chris Schonberger.
Following the deal, Evans will take on the new role of chief creative officer and Schonberger will become chief executive at First We Feast, which will now operate as an independent company with plans to expand into live events.
Evans will continue to host celebrity-focused show Hot Ones which he launched in 2015, in which he interviews guests who eat increasingly spicy chicken wings.
Other investors in the consortium include Soros Fund Management, Pod Save America, Jon Favreau’s Crooked Media and Mythical Entertainment.
Sarah Honda will remain as senior vice-president of operations and brand strategy, and executive producer on Hot Ones, which has over 4bn views on YouTube.
In an investor release, Buzzfeed revealed it will now operate with a cash balance that exceeds its remaining debt. It also completes the company’s strategic shift away from lower-margin content products, it continued, to focus instead on “high-margin, tech-enabled” revenue lines.
BuzzFeed founder and chief executive Jonah Peretti said the sale marks an “important step” in BuzzFeed’s transformation “to fully benefit from the ongoing AI revolution”.
“In the coming years, we will continue to invest in our most scalable and tech enabled services, launching new AI-powered interactive experiences, and delivering for our loyal audience and business partners,” he said.
BuzzFeed bought First We Feast as part of its roughly £157m ($198m) purchase of Complex Networks in 2021. In February BuzzFeed sold Complex – but retained First We Feast - for around £86m ($108.6m).
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