Cox Enterprises has acquired online
publisher Axios Media.
The company did not mention a price in its Monday announcement, but the New York Times put it at $525
million.
This follows a prior investment by Cox in Axios last fall.
Cox says it is committed to “scaling and
expanding” Axios into more cities. Cox CEO and chairman Alex Taylor will join the Axios board.
“With so much happening in the world, Axios plays a
critical role in delivering balanced, trusted news that people need,” Taylor, who will join the Axios board, states. “Our company started in the media business, and we have always had a
passion for journalism.”
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Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen and Roy Schwartz, who co-founded Axios in 2017, still hold large stakes in the company and will continue
to lead editorial and day-to-day business decisions.
“We have found our kindred spirit for creating a great, trusted, consequential media company that can outlast us all,” states VandeHei, who serves as Axios CEO.
“Our shared ambitions should be clear: to spread clinical, nonpartisan, trusted journalism to as many cities and as many topics as fast as possible.”
Axios is known for the brevity of its format and writing.
Cox says its other media companies, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Dayton Daily News and additional Ohio newspapers, are not affected by the deal.
Nice value creation in digital media.