(Reuters) – Group Black is in talks to buy a majority stake in Arena Group Holdings Inc, the publisher of Sports Illustrated magazine, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The discussions with Arena, which also houses publications such as TheStreet, Parade, and Men’s Journal, are in continuing efforts by Group Black to forge fresh deals that allows the media company to sell its advertising space, the report added.
Shares of Arena Group, which has a market capitalization of $90.42 million per Refinitiv data, surged nearly 8% to $4.43 in extended trading following the report.
While the discussions are ongoing, the companies might not struck a deal, the report said. The WSJ did not report on the deal value.
Group Black and the Arena Group did not respond to Reuters requests for comments.
(Reporting by Granth Vanaik in Bengaluru; Editing by Shweta Agarwal)