Forbes to go public via $630 mln SPAC merger to expand consumer business

The publisher of Forbes magazine will go public through a merger with a blank-check firm in a deal that values the combined entity at $630 million, the companies said on Thursday, the latest example of media companies catching the boom of special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs).

Forbes, one of the oldest media outlets in the United States, will merge with Hong Kong-based Magnum Opus Acquisition Ltd, a SPAC led by Jonathan Lin, a former executive at billionaire Steven Cohen’s Point72.