• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, October 2, 2015

Immediately after its high-profile acquisition of Business Insider, Axel Springer quietly took a stake in Thrillist Media Group, a digital media company targeting millennial men with a range of lifestyle content.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but according to the companies, it makes the German publisher the largest outside investor in Thrillist.

AS is taking a minority stake in Thrillist as part of a broader strategy to expand its global reach, with a focus on English-language publications and millennial audiences. TMG produces local editions targeting around 36 cities in the U.S. and Europe, including Web properties and a mobile app.

Founded in 2005, Thrillist currently reaches around 15 million unique visitors per month on its Web site, and over 80 million across when its social, mobile and email channels are included. That's approximately double its traffic a year ago, with two-thirds of this growth coming via mobile.

According to the companies, TMG will use the investment to expand into new verticals, broaden its technical base for video and social media, augment its branded content division, The CoLab, and add to its experiential events team.

TMG also revealed that is e-commerce business, JackThreads, will operate as an independent company in future.

As noted, earlier this week AS acquired Business Insider, the digital media startup founded by veteran investor and financial journalist Henry Blodget in 2009, for $343 million.