Vox Media to Buy Group Nine as Consolidation Aims to Help Profitability
Posted on 12/14/2021
Vox Media Inc. said it has acquired Group Nine Media Inc. in the latest sign of consolidation in the digital media business. If the all-stock deal goes through, Vox will own 75% of Group Nine. This deal would put legacy media properties like New York Media (New York Magazine), SB Nation, Polygon, The Verge, and Eater under the same umbrella as websites such as PopSugar, NowThis, and Thrillist. Jim Bankoff will be the CEO and Chairman of Vox Media, of which he is also a co-founder. Group Nine is part-owned by Discovery Communications and in 2019 acquired PopSugar.
The deal is not part of the the Group Nine SPAC called Group Nine Acquisition Corp., which is a separate entity.
In August 2015, NBCUniversal made a US$ 200 million equity investment in Vox Media.