As part of the deal, he will remain ceo of Thrillist and become chairman of JackThreads.
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However, no such agreement was offered to Lerer since Axel Springer is only taking a minority stake in Thrillist.
Springer said Tuesday that it will buy 88 percent of the Business Insider news website for $343 million.
He plans to continue to expand Business Insider’s audience beyond its current 76 million unique visitors for the next several years, and then look for monetization and profits down the road.
Axel Springer SE, the European publisher that owns German national newspapers Die Welt and Bild, said Wednesday it has agreed to buy a minority stake in Thrillist Media Group, the digital media company that operates lifestyle sites for Millennial men.
A 10-year-old media company with an e-commerce operation was always going to be a hard thing to value, and the bonus of being able to cash out an investor who wanted out is definitely a positive; perhaps the surprising thing is that Thrillist didn’t make this decision sooner.
With the acquisition of Business Insider, we continue with our strategy to expand Axel Springers digital reach and, as previously announced, invest in digital journalism companies in English-speaking regions of the world,”Mathias Dpfner, CEO of Axel Springer, said in a statement”.
Although Lerer could not disclose specifics of the deal, he noted that the $54 million sum was “not overwhelmingly skewed” toward either brand.
Lerer, a managing partner at venture capital firm Lerer Hippeau Ventures, founded the male-oriented Thrillist with a college friend in 2004 and is its CEO. Earlier this year, it launched Tech Insider, a technology news site.Business Insideralso sells a subscription-based research and information service, known as BI Intelligence. Of the three, Axel Springer made the biggest investment. “[Co-founder and chief executive] Henry Blodget was a key factor for our investment”. It is a pleasure and privilege to join forces with such a smart, forward-thinking team.
The new round also adds fire to current mixed market for media properties, where a few companies are being funded, or acquired for arguably insane amounts, whereas others struggle. The site has more than 325 employees, about half of whom are journalists.
Axel Springer has already invested in Ozy, a digital magazine company, and Now This, the short-form video purveyor.
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Axel Springer will finance this acquisition using existing credit lines. In addition to its United States news sites, the company has a growing global presence, with local editions or licenses in seven other countries. The transaction is subject to approval by relevant antitrust authorities.
