(Washington) The American media and telecoms group Cox Enterprises announced on Monday the acquisition of the online media Axios, launched in 2017 with an editorial focus on politics and technologies.
Posted at 11:20 a.m.
The deal is worth $525 million, Axios reported in a post on its site, citing people familiar with the matter.
“With everything happening in the world, Axios plays a vital role in providing the balanced and trusted information that people need,” said Alex Taylor, CEO of Cox Enterprises Group, in a statement.
A family-owned company founded in 1898, Cox Enterprises is today based in Atlanta, Georgia, and has subsidiaries ranging from media (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Dayton Daily News), telecommunications (Cox Communications) and automotive sales services (Cox Automotive).
Axios was launched in 2017 by three former Politico journalists as an online medium. Adopting a specific editorial style, Axios favors short and bulleted articles, and also publishes podcasts and newsletters.
“We have found our kindred spirit to create a great, significant and reliable media company that will outlive us all,” said one of Axios’ founders and current boss, Jim Vandehei.
“Our shared ambitions should be clear: to deliver accurate, nonpartisan, and trusted journalism to as many cities and on as many topics as quickly as possible,” he added.
The three founders “will continue to hold significant shares in the company and will lead day-to-day editorial and business decisions,” says Cox Enterprises.
The group’s other media companies, such as local daily newspapers Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Dayton Daily News “will not be affected by the agreement and will continue to operate independently,” while Axios’ communications software arm, Axios HQ, will become an independent entity, majority-owned by its founders, the statement said.