Gizmodo Media Group and The Onion have a brand new proprietor — non-public fairness agency Great Hill Partners.
As a part of the deal, digital media government Jim Spanfeller is changing into CEO of (and an investor in) the renamed G/O Media. Spanfeller beforehand led Forbes.com as CEO and in addition based Spanfeller Media Group, the corporate behind the Daily Meal.
“This opportunity comes at a time when the entire digital media category is beginning to be recognized again for its unique ability to meet the diverse content and delivery needs of consumers and advertisers,” Spanfeller mentioned in a press release. “As the largest player in our space, G/O Media is in an ideal position to capitalize on this dynamic, and I am excited to collaborate with a great team that boasts an incredible track record to further expand our reach, add value to our advertisers and enrich our visitors’ lives.”
According to the announcement, G/O Media Group websites attain round 100 million distinctive guests every month. The Gizmodo Media Group contains Deadspin, Jezebel, Kotaku, Lifehacker and others, in addition to Gizmodo itself. They began out as a part of Gawker Media, and had been acquired by Univision following Gawker’s authorized defeat in a lawsuit by Terry Bollea (a.ok.a. Hulk Hogan), and its subsequent chapter.
The acquisition was half of a bigger effort by Univision to a attain an English-language viewers — it additionally acquired its preliminary stake in The Onion at across the similar time. Since then, nevertheless, Univision took a write-down on its English-language property and was reportedly trying to promote them.
The Wall Street Journal, which first reported that Great Hill was in talks to amass the Gizmodo portfolio, now says the agency is predicted to pay “much less” than the $135 million that Univision paid in 2016. Great Hill beforehand labored with Vivek Shah to amass writer Ziff Davis, which was then bought to j2 Global.
Meanwhile, the Gawker web site was acquired individually by Bustle proprietor Bryan Goldberg. It’s struggled to get off the bottom, nevertheless, with its writing workers resigning earlier this yr.
