Berlin-based Axel Springer, one of the largest digital publishing houses in Europe, bought Business Insider in a deal that values the company at $422 million.
Springer is paying $343 million to buy 88 percent of the company after taking a 9 percent share during a funding round last January. The remaining three percent of the company is held by the investment firm owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
The acquisition — at a cost that surpasses the $315 million AOL paid to acquire the Huffington Post in 2011 — comes in the wake of Springer's failed attempt last summer tobuy the FT Group, owner of the Financial Times.
Digitally Driven
Business Insider, a New York City-based business and financial news site, launched in February 2007. Founded by Kevin P. Ryan, an Internet entrepreneur, and Henry Blodget, who became the CEO. and the editor-in-chief, it employs more than 325 people. About 50 percent of the staffers are journalists.
Business Insider also organizes conferences and research related to digital media. In January, it launched BI Intelligence, a subscription-based research service that provides data and analysis on the mobile, payments, e-Commerce, and social, and digital media industries.
Learning Opportunities
Webinar
Mar
30
An Optimized Customer Contact Strategy Combines Transparency and Intelligence: The State of Outbound Communications
Learn from the Neustar-commissioned Forrester Consulting study on challenges and solutions for contact centers
Webinar
Apr
5
Adopt a Modern Digital-First Marketing Strategy
Learn how to use a composable DXP to your advantage
Webinar
Apr
13
Accelerating Content Velocity Across the Digital Supply Chain
Learn to integrate DAM with upstream tools to improve workflow efficiency.
Webinar
Apr
13
Composable Commerce The Future of Retail
The Adobe Commerce approach to composable and why it's best in class
Webinar
Apr
18
Drive Business Growth Through Customer Service and Support
Defining the future of technology. What is AI’s role in the future of customer service?
Webinar
Apr
26
Future-proofing Your Marketing Through Better Customer Understanding
Understanding your customers and how to reach them in real-time across all channels
Webinar
Mar
30
An Optimized Customer Contact Strategy Combines Transparency and Intelligence: The State of Outbound Communications
Learn from the Neustar-commissioned Forrester Consulting study on challenges and solutions for contact centers
Webinar
Apr
5
Adopt a Modern Digital-First Marketing Strategy
Learn how to use a composable DXP to your advantage
Springer had revenues of $3 billion last year, at least 50 percent of which was generated from its digital media activities. According to a statement from the company, the acquisition will play a key part in its strategy to expand and develop its global footprint.
Business Insider will add 76 million unique monthly visitors to Springer’s audience, bringing it to an estimated 200 million users and making it one of the world’s six largest digital publishers in terms of reach, the statement continued.
Blodget and Julie Hansen, Chief Operating Officer and President, will continue to lead Business Insider in their respective roles.
Thanks, everyone! Very kind. So grateful to our readers and clients and so proud of our team. Axel Springer an amazing company.
— Henry Blodget (@hblodget) September 29, 2015
