Univision is buying Gawker Media. The television network and web publisher reportedly placed a winning bid of $135 million to purchase Gawker, which declared bankruptcy after losing an invasion-of-privacy lawsuit to former pro wrestler Hulk Hogan. A federal bankruptcy court judge is set to approve the final sale Thursday.
Univision beat out publisher Ziff Davis, which started the bidding at $90 million, in a bankruptcy auction today. (Last year, ahead of the Hogan trial, Gawker Media founder Nick Denton pegged his company's worth to be in the $250 million to $300 million range.) It will acquire Gawker's entire portfolio of seven sites, which cover everything from cars and sports to feminism and Silicon Valley. But Univision may or may not keep Gawker Media running in its current form. It could wind down the flagship Gawker.com site, which posted the Hogan sex video that resulted in the suit. It could also sell certain sites off piecemeal to an interested buyer. New York-based web publisher LittleThings has already expressed interest in buying feminist-focused Jezebel for $10 million, though it’s unclear for now whether that offer is under consideration.
With the sale, Gawker effectively stays the court’s $140 million verdict while transferring its most valuable asset—its editorial operation—to a new owner during the appeals process. (Denton has also filed for personal bankruptcy to keep Hogan from seizing his own assets.) "This gives (Gawker) the breathing room to find out whether or not the court’s judgment will withstand the company’s appeal,” says Michael Fay, a bankruptcy lawyer with Berg & Androphy, who is not involved in the case.
For Univision, best known as the largest Spanish-language broadcaster in the US, the Gawker purchase may signal a more aggressive digital strategy. The company is already the sole owner of the tech-centric Fusion and last year bought The Root, an online news and culture site for African Americans. It also owns a minority stake in The Onion. Gawker would dramatically expand the editorial range of Univision's web presence as well as its audience.
For Gawker, meanwhile, the sale is the culmination of a vicious legal battle waged against it by Silicon Valley magnate Peter Thiel, who sought to shutter the company for what he described as its reckless willingness to profit from clickbait that "attacked and mocked people." Thiel secretly bankrolled Hogan's lawsuit but has since openly defended his effort even as critics have called Thiel out for seeking to undermine a free press.
"I am pleased that our employees are protected and will continue their work under new ownership—disentangled from the legal campaign against the company," Denton wrote in an email confirming the Univision sale. "We could not have picked an acquirer more devoted to vibrant journalism."
