Letterboxd up for sale as Netflix, NYT and A24 circle $300m deal
Letterboxd, the app where film fans log and rate what they watch, is up for sale with a price expected to pass $300 million.
The New York Times Company is among the suitors, alongside A24, Netflix, Paramount, Sony and others, Deadline reported on 24 September. No deal has been signed. The field remains a list of interested parties, not a final shortlist.
The seller is Tiny, a Canada-based private equity firm, meaning an investor that buys and holds companies. Tiny is selling four years after it bought control of Letterboxd. It acquired a majority stake, meaning control of the company, from its founders in 2023, according to a previous report in The New York Times.
The price has climbed during the process. LionTree, a small advisory firm for media deals, floated a $250 million valuation in July, according to earlier reports in Variety and elsewhere. That figure now appears set to surpass $300 million, Deadline reported.
LionTree is advising Letterboxd on the sale. Alex Michael, a senior managing director at the bank, called the company “a phenomenon” during a panel at a Los Angeles conference hosted by the Financial Times. He said Letterboxd draws 30 million monthly users with zero paid marketing. Its largest age group is 18 to 24.
One potential buyer has already stepped back. Versant Media, the owner of Fandango and Rotten Tomatoes, looked at Letterboxd’s books earlier this year but decided against a bid, sources told Deadline. That leaves a race centred on publishers, studios and streamers chasing a young film audience.
Another name in contact is Intrinsic, a social benefit corporation, meaning a company organised to pursue a public benefit alongside profit. It has backing from producer Ted Hope and a crowdfunding campaign, and has been in touch with co-founders Matthew Buchanan and Karl von Randow about a bid. The pair are based in New Zealand, where they started the service.
What makes this stand out is the loyalty behind the numbers. For fans, Letterboxd is a diary, a watchlist and a debating club in one. Whoever buys it gets direct access to 30 million regular film-goers who already tell each other what to watch next.
