Private-Equity Firm Great Hill Partners in Talks to Buy Gizmodo Media Group
Univision put its English-language digital unit, which includes the Onion and Gizmodo, up for sale in July
Great Hill Partners is in exclusive talks with Spanish-language broadcaster Univision Communications Inc. to buy Gizmodo Media Group, according to people familiar with the matter, a deal that would add a marquee digital brand to the private-equity firm’s portfolio.
The financial terms of the negotiations weren’t disclosed, and it is possible a deal may not happen.
Univision acquired most of the websites in Gizmodo Media Group in 2016, when it purchased most of Gawker Media Group in a bankruptcy auction for $135 million. Univision already owned the Root, an African-American news site, and a stake in satirical website the Onion, which it grouped with the assets from Gawker Media. Gizmodo Media Group also includes the websites Deadspin, Gizmodo and Lifehacker, among others.
On Thursday, Univision said it took an impairment charge of more than $120 million for Gizmodo Media Group last year.
Boston-based Great Hill Partners has experience in the digital-media business. In 2010, it backed veteran media executiveVivek Shah in his purchase of publishing company Ziff Davis. In 2012, it sold Ziff Davis to technology company j2 Global Inc. for about $167 million.
James Spanfeller, the former chief executive of Forbes.com and the founder of the Spanfeller Media Group, is consulting with Great Hill Partners on the deal, people familiar with the matter said. Like many private-equity firms, Great Hill Partners often pairs an executive with subject-matter expertise with an asset they are interested in acquiring.
Univision once aimed to become a true colossus of English-language digital media, embarking on a strategy that included the acquisition of digital sites and the creation of entirely new properties.
Still, digital media remained a side-bet for Univision, which pulls in most of its revenue through TV advertising and pay-TV subscriber fees. In 2017, the English-language sites in Gizmodo Media Group generated more than $80 million in revenue, according to a document reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, but still lost about $20 million.
Since his appointment in June, Univision’s chief executive, Vincent Sadusky, has honed the company’s focus on Spanish-language media.
The company has endured infighting among executives and directors in recent years as some of its private-equity backers grew dissatisfied with the direction of the company.
The broadcaster’s programming has been blacked out for subscribers of Dish Network Corp. since June, costing Univision subscriber-fee revenue and hurting its ad-sales business.
—Miriam Gottfried contributed to this article.
Write to Benjamin Mullin at Benjamin.Mullin@wsj.com and Dana Mattioli at dana.mattioli@wsj.com