coinfomania.com
Leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance has made a $200 million strategic investment in the American business magazine Forbes and Magnum Opus Acquisition Limited as per an announcement on Forbes.
The 104-year-old magazine and digital publisher had earlier announced its plans to become a publicly-traded company on the New York Stock Exchange trading under the ticker symbol “FRBS” through Magnum Opus investment firm, a publicly-traded SPAC (special-purpose acquisition company). The partnership deal was meant to be concluded in the first quarter of 2022.
The $200 million investment by Binance will replace half of the $400 million in commitments from institutional investors that was announced alongside the company’s plan to go public. With the investment, Binance will become one of the top two biggest owners of Forbes and will also get two directors out of nine total board seats.
Taking the seat of Forbes’ board of directors at the conclusion of the deal will be Patrick Hillmann, Chief Communications Officer for Binance, and Bill Chin, Head of Binance Labs, the Venture Capital Arm and Incubator of Binance.
The deal between the two companies, according to Forbes’ CEO Mike Federle, will help the magazine tap into Binance’s experience, network, and resources.
Forbes will also advance in its goal of providing information on blockchain technologies and all emerging digital assets.
Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the founder and CEO of Binance, commented on the partnership saying,
“As Web 3 and blockchain technologies move forward and the crypto market comes of age we know that media is an essential element to build widespread consumer understanding and education. We look forward to bolstering Forbes’ Digital initiatives, as they evolve into a next-level investment insights platform.”
Meanwhile, Coinfomania recently reported that Binance increased its user insurance fund to a $1 billion valuation.
The insurance fund, which is known as the “Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU), was launched as an in-house emergency insurance fund in July 2018 with a 10% allocation of all trading fees to users that have lost their funds deposited on the platform due to a security breach.