The New York Times Company is in exclusive talks to acquire the beloved cinephile social media platform Letterboxd, Deadline has confirmed. The only other remaining bidder, A24, is out of the running.
The New York Times first reported that its parent is in pole position to buy the site from Canadian hedge fund Tiny, pegging the deal at $350 million.
The field was initially said to include Netflix, Sony, the former Paramount and others but most fell away as the price rose. Another suitor, a nonprofit called Intrinsic Entertainment, told Deadline tonight that it’s assembled a group of like-minded investors and was several weeks away from making a $300 million offer.
It isn’t not clear if the NYT bid includes the stakes of Letterboxd founders Matthew Buchanan and Karl von Randow, CEO and CTO, who each own 20% of the company after selling 60% to Tiny in 2023. Letterboxd said in a statement at the start of Tiny’s sale process that the duo, who are based in New Zealand, would be involved in any decision about Letterboxd’s future.
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The report today said the NYT is considering leaving the duo at the helm. A24 had promised Letterboxd independence and to leave its business model unchanged.
Tiny had hired boutique investment bank LionTree to oversee the sale process. Reps from LionTree, Letterboxd, the New York Times and A24 didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Speaking at an FT conference recently, Alex Michael, a LionTree senior managing director, raved about Letterboxd, calling it “a phenomenon” that attracts 30 million monthly users “with zero paid marketing.”