Well, this is an interesting turn of events. When it was confirmed that the Gawker properties would be sold in an auction, just about everyone was confident that it would ultimately be Ziff Davis who would end up the victor. However, the auction for the properties happened today and Ziff Davis was NOT the winner. While many thought this would end up in a winner take all bidding war, surprisingly Ziff Davis and Univision were the only bidders. No sign of Vox Media, Vice or even BuzzFeed at all.
Instead, it wasUnivision who ended up *walking* away with the assets and has agreed to pay $135 million for them. Well, not walking as a U.S. bankruptcy court judge still needs to sign off on this. Nick Denton previously argued that his company was worth $250 million or more. However, once it is all said and done, Univision has picked up a gold mine.
“Gawker Media Group has agreed this evening to sell our business and popular brands to Univision, one of America’s largest media companies that is rapidly assembling the leading digital media group for millennial and multicultural audiences. I am pleased that our employees are protected and will continue their work under new ownership — disentangled from the legal campaign against the company. We could not have picked an acquirer more devoted to vibrant journalism.”
Many may be scratching their heads and asking, why did Univision enter the bidding? It’s understandable to ask, however, the company has been quietly making a name for its self, outside of being a Spanish TV Network. In fact, for the past few years, the company has been acquiring sites such as The Root and even The Onion. By picking up the Gawker assets, they have pushed their way into the upper echelon of journalism, which was likely their goal. Obviously, it’s way too soon to see what the company has in store for the properties, but we’ll all hear something, soon enough.
Congrats to Univision for on their acquisition, now we get to sit back and see where they take it from here.
Sources: Recode
