German media company Axel Springer SE confirmed Tuesday that it is buying full control of business news website Business Insider after weeks of speculation.
Under the terms of the deal, Berlin-based Axel Springer (SPR) will pay $343 million for a 88% stake in the website founded by former Wall Street analyst Henry Blodget. The deal values Business Insider at $442 million in total and it increases Axel Springer’s stake in the company to roughly 97%. Amazon (AMZN) CEO Jeff Bezos’ investment company owns the remaining 3%. (Bezos also owns The Washington Post.)
Axel Springer noted in a statement that adding Business Insider’s 76 million unique monthly visitors to its existing media empire — which includes German newspapers Bild and Die Welt, as well as stakes in sites such as Ozy.com and Mic.com — will increase its total global audience to roughly 200 million users.
“Business Insider has set new standards in digital business journalism globally,” Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner said in a statement. “Henry Blodget’s way of digital storytelling reaches tomorrow’s decision-makers. Combining our forces will allow us to unlock growth potential and expand Business Insider’s portfolio to new verticals, new locations and new digital content.”
Axel Springer bought part of Business Insider earlier this year by joining a $25 million funding round and reports popped up earlier this month that the German company was considering a deal to acquire a majority stake in the business news site.
