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Vox Media is in advanced talks to merge with Group Nine, a deal that would unite two of the biggest players in digital media.
The deal would create a company with more than $700M annual revenues and 100M in profit, according to the Wall Street Journal,
Vox Media properties include Vox, New York Magazine, The Verge, The Cut, Eater, Vulture, The Strategist, Polygon, SB Nation, Intelligencer, Curbed, Grub Street and Recode, while Group Nine is parent of NowThis, ThrillList and Dodo.
Vox would own 75 percent of the merged entity and its CEO Jim Bankoff would helm the operation.
Bankoff sent a memo to staffers on Dec. 13 confirming the merger discussion after the WSJ broke the story.
He noted that the deal has not yet been signed but it will happen shortly. The rationale of the merger is to “grow revenue, increase scale and continue these incredibly powerful and complementary brands.”
A team composed of executives from both companies will develop a “thoughtful plan” to integrate operations when it makes sense to do so.
“Nome of our existing editorial offerings or services will change as a result of this combination and we will be thoughtful wabou how we make decisions and treat people,” noted Bankoff.
SKDK has Ryan Thompson, who was chief mobilization officer for the Harris for President campaign, to run its new Blizzard TXT, a new peer-to-peer SMS/MMS texting platform.
Eric Petersen, who was senior VP-social strategy & innovation at Weber Shandwick during a seven-year run, has joined Ruder Finn.
Adam Shapiro, who helped develop FGS Global’s digital strategy, has joined Reevemark as its digital head.
Avika Dua, who was digital director for New York governor Kathy Hochul, has joined SKDK as a VP to work on both political and corporate campaigns.
Maxwell Nunes, who was director of paid media for South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg’s bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, has joined SKDK as executive VP.
