Vox Media expands portfolio with Re/code acquisition

OHMYGOSSIP — Vox Media, one of the largest and fast growing US online publishing company, has acquired the parent company of Re/code, the tech news website, started by veteran journalists Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg.

Re/code was founded by Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg with a few million dollars from investors like NBC Universal (owned by Comcast) after they left the Wall Street Journal, where they had built AllThingsD into a destination for tech news, while also creating a successful events business.

Re/code is probably the most influential tech news media brand among business and C-suite audiences. It has grown steadily into a destination for tech news since its launch a year and a half back.

Jim Bankoff, the CEO of Vox Media, sent a companywide note explainging the deal and what it means for both sides.

“We are strengthening our leadership in tech coverage with the addition of Re/code. The Verge is already the preeminent digital tech/lifestyle media brand, with tremendous growth under Nilay’s (Nilay Patel, editor-in-chief of The Verge) leadership, reaching a consumer audience of over 24.5 million unique visitors in April and generating 40 million video views each month,” the note stated.

“With the addition of Re/code, we will extend our leadership of comprehensive tech coverage online, with Re/code’s unparalleled expertise in tech business news, to complement the broad consumer appeal of The Verge.”

The deal size was not disclosed. Based on the size of its readership (about 2.5 million monthly uniques) and its initial fundraise, Business Insider pegged the deal at less than $50 million.

Despite publishing some of the most talented journalist in the business, Re/code had struggled to generate much web traffic. The site drew 1.5 million unique visitors in April 2015, according to comScore.

The site had been exploring a sale. AOL had been among the potential suitors, but a deal could not be reached.

In a post confirming the deal with Vox Media, Swisher and Mossberg said not much would change.

“We want to assure you that this combination is designed to bolster and enrich Re/code, and that we will continue to publish under the same name and leadership, with editorial independence. We will also continue to hold our signature Code conferences, and even add new ones, again with the same core team and the same philosophy,” they wrote.

Swisher and Mossberg wrote that Re/code would be able to coexist alongside The Verge, the tech site of Vox Media. Vox Media’s lineup of websites also includes its namesake news and analysis site Vox, sports blog SB Nation, gaming site Polygon and food blog Eater, among others

“We plan as well to collaborate where appropriate with Vox Media’s current and very successful tech news site, The Verge. While the two sites occasionally overlap, we have focused on the business of tech, while The Verge has focused on covering tech from a lifestyle perspective,” they wrote.

Mashable reported that Re/code employees were notified about the deal earlier in the day during a meeting.

Among the biggest changes that have been revealed is that the review teams of The Verge and Re/code will merge, meaning that Mossberg will be writing for The Verge.

“We are making one change, though: Re/code’s tremendous reviews team of Lauren Goode, Katie Boehret, and Bonnie Cha will join the Verge staff, and Walt Mossberg will be writing reviews and columns for both sites,” wrote Patel, editor-in-chief of The Verge in a post.

“It’s an exciting expansion of our already best-in-the-business tech news and reviews team, and I can’t wait to see what they do with The Verge’s incredible platform and resources.”