The corporate headquarters of the publishing house Axel Springer in Berlin, Germany.
Sean Gallup | Getty Images
German publisher Axel Springer announced Thursday that he plans to acquire the digital media site Politico. The companies did not disclose the price of the deal, but initial reports put it at about $ 1 billion.
Spokesmen for Axel Springer and Politico were not immediately available to comment on the assessment.
The acquisition further increases the publishing group’s portfolio in the United States, adding to the ownership of Insider and Morning Brew. Axel Springer is the German publishing giant behind the mainstream media like Bild and Die Welt in the country. It has recently become private and continues to invest in American digital media companies.
Axel Springer and Politico have already formed a joint partnership since 2014, when Politico Europe was launched, according to a press release. This news site has been profitable since 2019, according to the announcement.
Axel Springer was reportedly in talks to buy Politico’s rival, Axios, earlier this summer.
According to the statement, Politico founder and editor Robert Allbritton will continue to play this role for both Politico and the Protocol Brothers technology site. The companies said their editorial and protocol management teams and Politico’s U.S. and European would remain and operate the publications independently of Axel Springer’s other U.S. brands.
The companies anticipate that the deal will close in the fourth quarter of this year.
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