Rumors are still flying about a potential tie-up between Group Nine Media and Refinery29, which like other VC-backed companies have struggled to live up to their valuations, last pegged at $500 million each. But such a merger would face steep hurdles, according to M&A experts. Chatter about a deal circulated earlier in the year after BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti floated the idea in The New York Times. Digital media companies including BuzzFeed, he stated, could gain leverage over titans like Facebook by combining forces.