Rumble, a censorship-free video platforms alternative to YouTube, has entered an acquisition deal with Cantor Fitzgerald-sponsored CF Acquisition Corp. VI (CFVI). After the completion of the business combination deal in the second quarter of 2022, the company will be known as Rumble Inc. and will be publicly listed.
Rumble, popular with commentators Dan Bongino and Glenn Greenwald, prides itself on a neutral platform allowing content creators to share their content without any restrictions or censorship. It has become popular over the past year due to what many see as biased content moderation rules on YouTube.
Related: Rumble acquires Locals to give creators an alternative to Big Tech
The founder and CEO of Rumble Chris Pavloski said: “Rumble is designed to be the rails and independent infrastructure that is immune to cancel culture. We are a movement that does not stifle, censor, or punish creativity and believe everyone benefits from access to a neutral network with diverse ideas and opinions. We are on a mission to restore the internet to its roots by making it free and open once again. The transaction we announced today will provide Rumble with the additional capital necessary to continue to scale our business and carry out our mission.”
CEO and Chairman of Cantor Fitzgerald and CFVI said: “Rumble is the most exciting social media and video distribution platform in the market today. With 36 million average monthly active users in Q3 2021, including 44 million monthly active users in August 2021, it is clear Rumble is the new market for innovators, creators, and consumers. I’m excited to support Rumble and its ability to operate the neutral video platform.”
The transaction was unanimously approved by the board of directors of both CFVI and Rumble. It will also have to be approved by the stockholders of both companies. However, Rumble stockholders have agreed to support it.
The transaction valued Rumble at an enterprise value of $2.1 billion.
The press release announcing the deal stated that current Rumble shareholders can “earn additional shares of the combined company if the stock reaches price hurdles of $15.00 and $17.50 per share.”
It added: “The transaction is expected to provide approximately $400 million in proceeds to Rumble, including a fully committed PIPE of $100 million at $10.00 per share and $300 million of cash held in the trust account of CFVI.”
