Israeli digital content publishing platform company Minute Media is working with the Goldman Sachs investment bank on plans for a Wall Street flotation, possibly this year, reports "Bloomberg" according "to people familiar with the matter." The sources said that the company is seeking a valuation of over $1 billion, more than double the valuation of $500 million, in its most recent financing round last year. Minute Media is reportedly exploring options for either a regular IPO, or a SPAC merger.
Minute Media was founded in 2011 by CEO Asaf Peled, Gili Beiman and Yuval Larom and has raised $180 million to date. Both Beiman and Larom are no longer active in the company.
Minute Media has developed a platform that allows users to create their own original content, which then distributes the content on the web. The company has partnerships with major media organizations including MSN Group and Sports Illustrated.
Based on the platform it has created, Minute Media itself operates six sports and entertainment websites, some of which it founded itself, and some of which it acquired. The company's revenue is generating by advertising, the sale of content created by users, and the sale of the platform, which it has developed to third parties. Minute Media has 400 employees including 100 in Israel.
Minute Media started out with its own soccer website called 90min, which was the original name of the company, followed by 12UP, which focused on American sports and then gaming site DBLTAP. In 2019, Minute Media acquired several sites including The Players Tribune, which was set up by former baseball star Derek Jeter, and on which former sportspeople create content.
Over the past few months, Israeli tech companies have been flocking to Wall Street, with IPOs completed by Playtika, Similarweb and Global-E, while monday.com, WalkMe and SentinelOne among others, are set to hold flotations. At the same time, 10 Israeli tech companies, with a total value of $40 billion, are in the process of completing SPAC mergers, including eToro, ironSource and Taboola.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on June 9, 2021
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