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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.[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

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]

External links

References

  1. Group Nine Media Inc Bloomberg, retrieved November 22, 2018^
  2. Josh Sternberg. Group Nine Media's NewFront Was All About Obsession Adweek – Breaking News in Advertising, Media and Technology, May 3, 2018, retrieved November 22, 2018^
  3. Sam Gutelle. Seeker's New Space Channel Headlines Group Nine Media's Slate Of Fresh Content Tubefilter, May 3, 2018, retrieved November 22, 2018^
  4. Jeremy Barr. Digital Publishers Come Together as Group Nine Media, Backed by $100 Million From Discovery AdvertisingAge, October 13, 2016^
  5. Marc Tracy, Edmund Lee. PopSugar Acquired by Group Nine Media in Latest Digital Media Deal The New York Times, 2019-10-07, retrieved 2019-10-08^
  6. Anthony Ha. Group Nine's SPAC goes public Tech Crunch, 15 January 2021^
  7. Vox Media to Merge with Group Nine, Home to Leading Collection of Multi-Platform Media Brands Group Nine Media, retrieved 2 February 2022^
  8. Vox Media Completes Acquisition of Group Nine 22 February 2022^
  9. Gerry Smith. Discovery Leads $40 Million Round for Thrillist Owner Group Nine Bloomberg, 28 November 2017^
  10. Todd Spangler. Group Nine Raises $50 Million From Discovery, Axel Springer Variety, 2019-09-09, retrieved 2021-11-03^
  11. Alex Sherman. How a new breed of media companies is convincing people to pay for news again CNBC, November 17, 2018, retrieved November 22, 2018^
  12. Vox Media Completes Acquisition of Group Nine 22 February 2022^