29 Jan Minute Media Acquires FanSided From Meredith Corporation
Minute Media, the technology and digital publishing platform announced it has acquired FanSided, the fan-focused sports and lifestyle publisher, from Meredith Corporation.
FanSided is one of the fastest-growing platforms of sports and lifestyle digital properties with more than 300 destinations focused on specific professional sports teams, college sports, lifestyle trends, and more. When combined with Minute Media’s existing sports digital audience, Minute Media will have one of the largest sports audiences in the U.S.
FanSided and its platform of individual sites will remain as standalone properties that will operate within Minute Media and have access to its proprietary technology and monetization tools. FanSided’s staff will join the Minute Media team as part of the acquisition. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“FanSided’s approach to community and fandom is a perfect complement to Minute Media’s existing properties. FanSided, combined with The Players’ Tribune’s athlete-perspective, provides our readers, partners and advertisers with what we believe to be the most well-rounded and holistic sports digital offering,” said Asaf Peled, founder and CEO of Minute Media. “We are excited to welcome the FanSided team to the Minute Media family.”
“We are pleased to have found such a great home for FanSided,” said Meredith’s Chief Development Officer John Zieser. “We are confident Minute Media will leverage its outstanding asset portfolio and technology platform to grow the FanSided network.”
The acquisition represents the fourth purchase for Minute Media over the last 18 months. In December, Minute Media announced it would acquire Derek Jeter’s The Players’ Tribune which follows the company’s acquisition of The Big Lead and Mental Floss.
Minute Media’s other owned and operated destinations include 90min, 12up, and DBLTAP.
“Minute Media will continue to be bullish on the M&A front bringing premium publishing brands into our portfolio through acquisitions and powering their growth through our proprietary end-to-end publishing platform,” said Peled.
For Meredith, the FanSided transaction is the latest in a series of non-core asset sales at attractive multiples conducted by Meredith following its January 2018 acquisition of Time Inc. Previously, Meredith sold the Time, Fortune, Sports Illustrated, Money, Time Inc. UK, and Viant brands.
To date, Minute Media’s owned and operated destinations include The Players’ Tribune, 90min, 12up, DBLTAP, Mental Floss and The Big Lead.