Penske’s media roll-up continues with buy of Vox stake

Posted on by

Penske Media, owned by trucking scion Jay Penske, is now the most important shareholder of Vox Media, an organization with titles together with New York Journal, the Minimize, Vulture and the Verge.

Whereas Penske Media didn’t disclose the phrases of the deal, the stake is for 20% of the corporate for round $100 million, the New York Occasions first reported. Vox owns a legion of media manufacturers together with PopSugar, Recode, the Dodo and NowThis. Jim Bankoff, co-founder of Vox, mentioned the brand new cash would permit the agency to develop.

“This investment by Penske Media will allow Vox Media to continue scaling its existing brands and operations, while providing resources for future acquisitions, and is another step forward in the ongoing ascent of Vox Media,” Bankoff mentioned. 

The stake provides but extra titles to the rising steady of publishing retailers owned by Penske. Through the years it has added Rolling Stone, the Hollywood Reporter, Billboard and Dick Clark Productions, in addition to Fairchild Media and a stake in Austin’s South By Southwest pageant.

“The Penske Media and Vox Media alliance will further cement both companies as leaders in modern media and take advantage of new opportunities at scale,” mentioned Penske, CEO and founding father of his namesake firm. “Our two companies share a similar history of organic and acquisitive growth over time, and it made sense to invest for the future.”

Nonetheless the deal additionally highlights how the worth of the digital media model has fallen.

The final time Vox raised cash in 2015, NBCUniversal invested $200 million at a valuation of about $1 billion, the New York Occasions reported. That was at a time when massive media firms like NBCUniversal have been eager to put money into digital manufacturers in a bid to succeed in youthful shoppers.

Penske will be part of the board of administrators at Vox on account of the deal and the 2 firms will proceed to function independently, the businesses mentioned.