- Title: BuzzFeed acquires news website HuffPost from Verizon Media
- Date: 20th November 2020
- Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FILE - MAY 12, 2015) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF BUILDING WHERE VERIZON HEADQUARTERS ARE LOCATED VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF VERIZON NEW YORK HEADQUARTERS AT 140 WEST ST. VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF VERIZON STORE PEOPLE INSIDE VERIZON SHOP SEEN THROUGH ENTRANCE
- Embargoed: 4th December 2020 10:15
- Keywords: Buzzfeed HuffPost Verizon online media
- Location: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES AND LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
- City: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES AND LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
- Country: USA
- Topics: Company News Markets,Economic Events,United States
- Reuters ID: LVA003D5DH3F1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: BuzzFeed bought news website HuffPost from Verizon Communications Inc on Thursday (November 19) in the latest sign of consolidation in the online media world.
The deal brings two once-hot digital properties - viewed as the future of news media but which have suffered from competition for ad dollars from Alphabet's Google and Facebook - under the control of one of HuffPost's co-founders.
Verizon, which also owns Yahoo and TechCrunch, said it will invest in the new combined company and take a minority stake.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
In an interview, BuzzFeed Chief Executive Officer Jonah Peretti, who co-founded the Huffington Post in 2005, said he was attracted to the property's more affluent and age-diverse audience which "enhanced the size and scale of our media network."
Verizon has struggled to grow its media properties, declaring them nearly worthless with a $4.6 billion write-down in 2018. The company's CEO said that Verizon Media had no plans to sell other properties at this time.
In the past few years, HuffPost has struggled with declining advertising revenue and adopted a series of cost-cutting measures, including layoffs. The outlet has tried to pivot to a subscription model since last year, with limited success, according to a person familiar with its operations.
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