Newsmax plans to go public in deal expected to raise $75 million

By Ciara Linnane

Media company will list on NYSE or Nasdaq later this year or early in 2025 as 'NMAX'

Newsmax Inc., which operates a cable news channel and website of the same name, said Monday it's planning to go public later this year or in early 2025 by listing on Nasdaq or the New York Stock Exchange.

The company expects to raise up to $75 million in the deal and to list under the ticker symbol "NMAX," according to a preliminary statement.

Ahead of the planned IPO, the company is launching a private placement of $225 million of Series B 7% convertible preferred stock that will be solely available to accredited investors, the company said in a statement on its website.

Accredited investors are defined by the Securities and Exchange Commission as those with net worth exceeding $1 million, excluding a primary residence, or incomes that exceed $200,000 in the last two years with the expectation of the same in the current year.

The partisan-aligned channel said all 30,000 shares sold in the private offering will convert to common shares after the IPO closes.

Qualified investors can invest as little as $5,000 - the price of a single share - in the offering and join Newsmax as a shareholder and owner, said the statement.

The company is planning to file a registration statement with the SEC regarding the IPO.

Digital Offering LLC is the sole placement agent for the private offering. That company specializes in crowd-financed public offerings.

From WSJ.com: The shortcut that allows risky startups to raise billions from rookie investors

Newsmax is a holding company that owns all of the equity interests of its operating company, Newsmax Media Inc., which was founded in 1998 by the conservative former journalist Christopher Ruddy.

The company's media properties have an audience of more than 40 million Americans, according to the statement.

Trump Media and Entertainment Group Inc. (DJT), which operates the Truth Social microblogging platform launched after Donald Trump was ousted from the pre-Elon Musk iteration of Twitter following the Jan. 6, 2021, siege of the U.S. Capitol, went public early this year after a merger with so-called blank-check company Digital World Acquisition Corp.

The Trump media company, in which the former president holds a large and growing stake, said it in April that it plans to launch a TV service.

Newsmax has been characterized as among the most Trump-friendly outlets on the U.S. media landscape.

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-Ciara Linnane

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06-11-24 1115ET

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