- Robyn Turk
-
|
The media industry continues to consolidate. Just a few days after
Vice Media announced it would acquire women’s fashion and lifestyle
publication Refinery29, Group Nine Media has made a similar
announcement. The New York-based digital media holding company will
acquire female-focused online magazine Popsugar.
While terms of the deal have not been made public, Wall Street
Journal reported that Popsugar is valued at 300 million dollars.
“Popsugar hugely expands our reach within an important demographic,
bringing us a community that deeply loves the PopSugar brand and a
company with the proven ability to diversify their revenue across
premium advertising, affiliate, direct-to-consumer commerce,
licensing, and experiential channels,” Group Nine CEO Ben Lerer said
in a statement.
Popsugar joins Group Nine’s far-reaching portfolio of brands, which
includes food and travel title Thrillist, animal magazine The Dodo,
science publication Seeker and politics title NowThis.
“Over the past few years, we’ve gotten POPSUGAR to profitability
and found a way to build a well-diversified business that has
outlasted many of our competitors in a rapidly evolving space,” Brian
Sugar, founder & CEO of Popsugar, said in a statement.
“Joining forces with a company and team that has the ambition,
momentum, and market leadership of Group Nine, combined with our
experience and innovation in commerce and experiential, will allow us
to build a scalable business model that sets the standard for the
next-generation media company.”
The merger of Popsugar with Group Nine Media will create a
diversified, multiplatform company that reaches more than 50 percent
of the overall U.S. population and 70 percent of Americans aged
between 18 and 34 through multiplatform leadership across content,
commerce, licensing, and experience.
