German publisher Axel Springer to acquire US news website Politico for more than $ 1 billion

August 26 (Reuters) – Axel Springer will acquire Politico in a deal that would value the US political news website at more than $ 1 billion, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The companies announced the deal Thursday, but did not disclose the terms. This was the largest acquisition for Axel Springer to date, as the German publisher joins a global network of digital news operations.

The deal, in which Springer will also buy the remaining 50% of its Politico Europe joint venture, follows its 2015 deal to buy Business Insider and a 2020 deal to buy a majority stake in the Morning Brew business newsletter platform.

Robert Allbritton, the owner of Politico, will continue to be the publisher of the website after the deal, which is expected to close later this year.

Politico was founded before the 2008 U.S. presidential election by deserters from the Washington Post with the goal of covering Washington and politics with the pace, analysis, and rigor of sports journalism.

Springer owns a wide portfolio of news, including Bild, Welt and Insider, and operates in more than 40 countries.

US private equity investor KKR, which owns about 48% of Springer, has been consolidating its digital and multimedia asset portfolio through the German media conglomerate.

Separately, two people familiar with the matter told CNBC that Springer was no longer in talks to buy the digital media Axios, which was founded by Politico co-founder Jim VandeHei.

Springer and Axios declined to comment.

Reports of Subrat Patnaik and Tiyashi Datta in Bengaluru; Kenneth Li and Krystal Hu in New York and Klaus Lauer in Berlin; Edited by Shailesh Kuber, Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Mark Porter

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