German publisher Axel Springer has extended its U.S. digital push by entering into an agreement to acquire digital market research company eMarketer.
Axel Springer will pay a reported €213 million (about $242 million) for a 93 percent stake in the New York-based digital media company.
Berlin-headquartered Axel Springer SE is the largest publishing house in Europe. The company, which owns German National daily newspaper Die Welt, Polish tabloid Fakt and German tabloid Bild — the highest-circulation newspaper in Europe — staffs more than 15,000. Founded in 1946, Axel Springer in 2015 accounted for revenues of about €3.3 billion.
Axel Springer’s eMarketer acquisition accounts for only the latest inroad that company has made in the U.S. media market. The company in September purchased an 88 percent stake in financial news site Business Insider and also has a majority stake in Chicago-based mobile shopping platform Retale, as well as investments in online lodging marketplace Airbnb, virtual-reality platform Jaunt, news platform Mic.com and lifestyle portal Thrillist.com.
Axel Springer last year made an unsuccessful bid for London daily the Financial Times. That publication was sold in July to Japanese book and magazine publisher Nikkei for £844m.
eMarketer provides analysis and reports on news and trends in the digital marketing, media and commerce industries. The company, which was founded in 1996, publishes its “eDaily” email newsletter, which boasts a circulation of about 120,000. eMarketer in 2015 accounted for $45.5 million in revenues. About 81 percent of those revenues last year came from subscriptions.
In light of the acquisition, eMarketer co-founders Terry Chabrowe and Geoff Ramsey will maintain a seven-percent stake in the company. They will keep their respective chief executive officer and chief innovation officer titles.
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