LOS ANGELES - At least for the Walt Disney Company, BuzzFeed quickly became a buzzkill.
As part of a routine effort to identify acquisition targets, Disney last year zeroed in on BuzzFeed, the fast-growing digital media company, but Disney’s interest quickly dissipated when BuzzFeed valued itself at nearly $1 billion, according to a person with direct knowledge of the talks.
This person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because Disney’s interest was meant to remain private, said the entertainment giant saw in BuzzFeed a potential “content-dissemination service.â€
Since its debut in 2006, BuzzFeed has grown to more than 400 employees worldwide, and it says it attracts more than 130 million monthly unique visitors. In January 2013, the company raised $19.3 million in funding from an investor group, which brought its total money raised to about $46 million.
Around the same time the BuzzFeed talks ended, Disney began negotiations with Maker Studios, a YouTube-based video supplier, ultimately buying that company for $500 million up front and committing to $450 million in additional payments if aggressive growth targets were met.
Disney declined to comment about its BuzzFeed tire-kicking, which was first reported on Monday by Fortune. BuzzFeed also declined to comment.
