Ticker symbol “BUZZ” may have a home on the stock market next year.
Media startup BuzzFeed, known for its quizzes and viral content, is preparing for an initial public offering some time in 2018, according to a report Wednesday from Axios, citing industry sources. The report was later confirmed by CNBC. Though the IPO plans are said to be in early stages, the media company could potentially claim the ticker symbol “BUZZ,” which is still unattached to a public company.
That IPO could be a windfall for Comcast (CMCSA) subsidiary NBCUniversal, which invested another $200 million in the startup in late 2016, bringing its total stake to $400 million. It would also follow another recent IPO win for NBCUniversal: The company invested $500 million in Snap (SNAP), the parent company of social media app Snapchat, making NBCUniversal a major beneficiary when Snap went public earlier this month in the hottest IPO of 2017 so far.
Buzzfeed, which now has 1,300 employees around the world, was valued at about $1.7 billion after NBCUniversal added to its stake in the online news outlet late last year.
NBCUniversal did not respond to immediate requests for comment. BuzzFeed declined to comment.
