Group Nine is an American digital media company comprising of websites such as Thrillist, NowThis, The Dodo, and Seeker. As of yesterday, the business added women's lifestyle publisher, PopSugar, to its lineup of subsidiaries after acquiring it for an undisclosed sum.
PopSugar was founded by husband and wife team Brian and Lisa Sugar in 2006 and has since expanded beyond content into ecommerce, festivals and even launched its own cosmetics line in 2017. Brian and Lisa will both be joining Group Nine's executive team.
“PopSugar hugely expands our reach within an important demographic, bringing us a community that deeply loves the PopSugar brand and a company with the proven ability to diversify their revenue across premium advertising, affiliate, direct-to-consumer commerce, licensing, and experiential channels,” Group Nine CEO Ben Lerer said in a statement.
Earlier this year, there were multiple reports that Group Nine was in talks to acquire Refinery29, which was ultimately acquired by Vice Media last week. The week before, Vox Media made and all-stock purchase of New York Media, the umbrella company for New York Magazine and its digital off-shoots.
According to The New York Times, the flurry of digital media deals are a result of companies looking to achieve scale and diversify their revenue opportunities amid tough competition from Google and Facebook.
