Forbes Media, which publishes the well-known financial magazine, has hired Deutsche Bank to explore a sale of the company, CEO Mike Perlis said in a memo to employees on Friday.
"We're organizing a process to test the waters regarding a sale of Forbes Media. We have hired Deutsche Bank to represent us, and we expect interest from numerous suitors," Perlis said in the memo, obtained by Reuters.
He said Forbes Media hired the bank after receiving "serious" overtures to buy the company. A source familiar with the situation said the company could sell for $400 million to $500 million.
A representative for Deutsche Bank declined to comment.
Steve Forbes, a former U.S. presidential candidate and grandson of the magazine's founder B.C. Forbes, is chairman and editor-in-chief of Forbes Media. His father Malcolm Forbes previously ran the magazine.
The company is best known for its annual rankings of wealthy individuals.
The Forbes.com website had 26 million unique visitors in the first nine months of 2013, the publisher said on its website, citing the Internet technology company comScore.