BuzzFeed has agreed to buy HuffPost the companies said Thursday, uniting two of the largest players in digital media in the latest example of consolidation in the sector.
The acquisition is part of a larger deal between Verizon Media, HuffPost’s owner, and BuzzFeed, with the media arm of the telecoms giant taking a minority shareholder in BuzzFeed.
“This is a real vote of confidence after years of many shocks in our industry and few success stories,” Mark Schoofs, the editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed News, told staff in an email announcing the news.
The news comes after both companies have made deep cuts after years of phenomenal growth but falling online advertising revenues. The partnership follows other online deals. Vox Media acquired New York Media last September and Vice Media bought Refinery29 the following month.
The deal is a return for Jonah Peretti, who was co-founder of what was then the Huffington Post along with Arianna Huffington and who went on to be the founder and chief executive of BuzzFeed. He will run the combined company.
“I have vivid memories of growing HuffPost into a major news outlet in its early years, but BuzzFeed is making this acquisition because we believe in the future of HuffPost and the potential it has to continue to define the media landscape for years to come,” Peretti said in a statement. “With the addition of HuffPost, our media network will have more users, spending significantly more time with our content than any of our peers.”
The two companies were once seen as “disruptors” of the traditional media landscape but as Facebook and Google swallowed up ever larger shares of online advertising, they too have struggled.
Verizon bought HuffPost as part of its $4.4bn takeover of AOL, its former owner, in 2015. But the telecoms company has struggled with the acquisition and has been looking for a buyer for HuffPost since last year.
In May, BuzzFeed pulled the plug on its news operations in the UK and Australia, effectively marking the end of the digital upstart’s global ambitions.
“Verizon Media’s strategy has evolved over the past two years to focus on our core strengths – ads, commerce, content and subscriptions,” said Guru Gowrappan, CEO of Verizon Media. “The partnership with BuzzFeed complements our roadmap while also accelerating our transformation and growth.”