Gizmodo-publisher G/O Media acquires business news site Quartz

Gizmodo publisher G/O Media Inc is acquiring Quartz, the business news site said in an internal memo on Thursday, the latest in a series of consolidations in digital media.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed in the memo from Quartz Chief Executive Zach Seward.

The deal comes as publications struggle to grow revenue amid a fierce fight for advertising dollars with internet heavy-weights Meta Platforms Inc and Alphabet Inc.

Great Hill Partners-owned G/O Media will be the third owner of Quartz, which was founded in 2012. It was acquired by Tokyo-listed financial data firm Uzabase in 2018 before being taken private by Seward two years later.

“G/O, meanwhile, will help us reach a lot more people across its network and unlock new revenue streams that we couldn’t on our own. And we will make this combination without any reduction in jobs,” Seward said in the memo to staff.

Quartz generated US$11.1 million in revenue in 2021, down from US$12.3 million in the previous year, according to the New York Times, which first reported the deal on Thursday.

Falling revenue has pressured media companies to join hands or find new plush owners.

Last year, Verizon Inc sold its media properties, including TechCrunch, Yahoo Finance and Engadget, to private equity firm Apollo Global Management, and Vox Media merged with Group Nine Media.