After months of speculation, BuzzFeed has recently announced that they've completed their sale of Complex Networks. The sale, made to the e-commerce platform NTWRK, has been finalized for a staggering $108.6 million in an all-cash transaction. What's more shocking is that BuzzFeed originally acquired Complex Networks in December 2021 for approximately $294 million.
NTWRK has high hopes for the new acquisition and claims that together with Complex the duo can build the next-generation content and shopping experience. While the initial sales figures may seem like a massive loss to BuzzFeed, their 2021 acquisition of Complex Networks also included First We Feast, which produces popular online segments such as Hot Ones that was not included in the deal to NTWRK. The Complex sale also comes with news of a new round of layoffs in order to cut expenses, where approximately 16% of the Complex workforce will be laid off.
The freshly merged pair of NTWRK and Complex is now led by Aaron Levant, who co-founded the NTWRK platform alongside Jamie Iovine and Gaston Dominguez-Letelier in 2018. Levant has a history with Complex by co-creating ComplexCon alongside Marc Ecko, Complex's founder, in 2016. While it's unclear exactly what the future of NTWRK and Complex will look like in its entirety, the two hope to create the platform for convergence culture.
For the latest sneaker and streetwear news and to keep up with every sneaker release, make sure to connect with us on Twitter and Instagram.