Online news publisher Vox Media said on Tuesday that it’s acquiring Recode, an influential tech news site, adding to a growing wave of consolidation in the tech media world.
Exact terms of the all-stock deal for Recode’s parent, Revere Digital, were not disclosed. But for some minor changes, it appears that Recode will remain intact and that its two well-known founders, journalists Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg, will continue to lead their team under the same brand name.
The news was announced at Recode’s flagship conference, Code, which kicked off Tuesday in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.
This acquisition is just the latest in a roller-coaster year tech-focused news sites. On March 9, GigaOm, a nine-year-old blog founded by journalist Om Malik, abruptly shut down (Coins2Day has since hired six of its former writers). On Tuesday, Austin-based Knowingly said it had acquired some of GigaOm’s assets and will relaunch the site in August. Last week, TechCrunch owner AOL sold to Verizon for $4.4 billion, bringing up questions about the future of TechCrunch and Engadget, another tech blog under the AOL umbrella. AOL has since said there will be no immediate changes.
As part of Vox Media, Recode will have access not only to its new owner’s bigger audience — Vox’s sites had 53.2 million unique US visitors in April, according to comScore, compared with only 1.5 million for Recode — but also its company resources like marketing and ad sales, Swisher and Mossberg noted in announcing the news. Recode will join Vox’s other properties, including the tech news site The Verge and the sports-focused SB Nation.
Both Recode and The Verge will have divided responsibilities with Recode covering the business side of the tech industry while The Verge will drill down into its products. “We have focused on the business of tech, while The Verge has focused on covering tech from a lifestyle perspective,” Swisher and Mossberg said.
Recode’s product reviews team, however, will move over to The Verge, and Mossberg will write for both sites, The Verge co-founder and editor-in-chief Nilay Patel said.
Vox Media has raised $107.6 million in funding to date.