Warning: Communist China To Seize American Magazine
No. No, it's not okay but the media isn't covering it so it's happening behind closed doors. A firm backed by the Chinese government is poised to purchase Forbes Magazine for as much as $650 million.
The proposed merger between Forbes Global Media Holdings (Forbes) and Magnus Opus Acquisition Limited (Magnus Opus) was first announced in August of last year, and is expected to finalize within the next month. SEC filings show that Magnus Opus received its seed capital from the state owned Chinese Investment Corporation. Other state-owned media operating in the United States, such as Xinhau News Agency and China Daily, are required to disclose their ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), but the pre-existing Forbes brand could obfuscate the connection and smuggle CCP talking points into the American mainstream.
“Forbes is a recognizable American brand with immense propaganda value to the CCP,” Senators Tom Cotton (R-AR), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Bill Haggerty (R-TN) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) wrote in an open letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, calling for more oversight of the CCP’s purchasing of U.S. assets. “The CCP’s direction of Forbes’ editorial content and business operations, or its access to Forbes’ financial and personal research, could present a serious national security threat to the United States.”
Since 2014, Forbes has been privately controlled by a Hong Kong-based investor group, Integrated Whale Media Investments.
That was 'free' Hong Kong, pre-Chinese takeover.
But the magazine’s pending sale to a SPAC created with seed funding from the Mainland Chinese government comes amid a crackdown on the free press in Hong Kong. It has led some within Forbes to question the mechanics and timing of the deal, according to DailyMail.
‘Why is Forbes, which is one of the premier business brands in the world, going public via a SPAC with a bunch of guys in Hong Kong?’ said the senior source at Forbes.
‘They're pushing hard to go public right in the middle of this market correction,’ the person added.
Basically taking advantage of the quivering market.