Group Nine Media
Group Nine Media was an American digital media holding company based in New York City. The company comprises Thrillist, NowThis, The Dodo, and Seeker. The four brands, and former brand SourceFed, merged to form Group Nine Media in October 2016. In October 2019, Group Nine Media acquired PopSugar. In December 2020, Group Nine formed its own corporate SPAC to use the public funding for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination. In December 2021, Vox Media announced its intention to acquire Group Nine. The transaction was completed in February 2022, and Group Nine was folded into Vox Media.
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| Company type | Privately held company |
|---|---|
| Predecessor | Discovery Digital Networks |
| Founded | October 2016 |
| Founder | Ben Lerer |
| Defunct | February 22, 2022 |
| Fate | Acquired by and folded into Vox Media |
| Successor | Vox Media |
| Headquarters | New York City, U.S.[1] |
Key people | Ben Lerer (CEO) Brian Sugar (President) |
Number of employees | 415+ (2016) |
| Subsidiaries | The Dodo JASH NowThis PopSugar Seeker Thrillist |
| Website | www.groupninemedia.com |
| Footnotes / references https://www.axios.com/group-nine-popsugar-joint-leadership-team-6c53b3ad-2242-4179-a854-dbd6bb424e67.html | |
Group Nine Media was an American digital media holding company based in New York City. The company comprises Thrillist, NowThis, The Dodo, and Seeker.[2][3] The four brands, and former brand SourceFed, merged to form Group Nine Media in October 2016.[4] In October 2019, Group Nine Media acquired PopSugar.[5] In December 2020, Group Nine formed its own corporate SPAC to use the public funding for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination.[6] In December 2021, Vox Media announced its intention to acquire Group Nine.[7] The transaction was completed in February 2022, and Group Nine was folded into Vox Media.[8]
Ownership
[edit]At the time of the 2016 merger, Discovery Communications announced a $100 million minority investment in the collective organization, becoming the biggest shareholder before Axel Springer. Discovery also acquired the right to obtain a majority stake later if it so chooses.[4] In 2017, Discovery led a $40 million funding round in the "digital media company.[9] Group Nine Media raised $50 million in new funding in 2019, led by its lead investor Discovery along with participation from German publishing firm Axel Springer.[10]
Ben Lerer, founder of Thrillist and managing director of Lerer Hippeau Ventures, is CEO of Group Nine Media.[11]
On 13 December 2021, it was announced that Vox Media would acquire Group Nine Media.[7] The acquisition was completed on 22 February 2022.[12]
References
[edit]- ^ "Group Nine Media Inc". Bloomberg. Retrieved November 22, 2018.
- ^ Sternberg, Josh (May 3, 2018). "Group Nine Media's NewFront Was All About Obsession". Adweek – Breaking News in Advertising, Media and Technology. Retrieved November 22, 2018.
- ^ Gutelle, Sam (May 3, 2018). "Seeker's New Space Channel Headlines Group Nine Media's Slate Of Fresh Content". Tubefilter. Retrieved November 22, 2018.
- ^ a b Barr, Jeremy (October 13, 2016). "Digital Publishers Come Together as Group Nine Media, Backed by $100 Million From Discovery". AdvertisingAge.
- ^ Tracy, Marc; Lee, Edmund (2019-10-07). "PopSugar Acquired by Group Nine Media in Latest Digital Media Deal". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-10-08.
- ^ Ha, Anthony (15 January 2021). "Group Nine's SPAC goes public". Tech Crunch.
- ^ a b "Vox Media to Merge with Group Nine, Home to Leading Collection of Multi-Platform Media Brands". Group Nine Media. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
- ^ "Vox Media Completes Acquisition of Group Nine". 22 February 2022.
- ^ Smith, Gerry (28 November 2017). "Discovery Leads $40 Million Round for Thrillist Owner Group Nine". Bloomberg.
- ^ Spangler, Todd (2019-09-09). "Group Nine Raises $50 Million From Discovery, Axel Springer". Variety. Retrieved 2021-11-03.
- ^ Sherman, Alex (November 17, 2018). "How a new breed of media companies is convincing people to pay for news again". CNBC. Retrieved November 22, 2018.
- ^ "Vox Media Completes Acquisition of Group Nine". 22 February 2022.
External links
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