Axel Springer Acquires Politico In Reported $1B Deal

The German publishing company Axel Springer AXELF has acquired Politico, the political journalism publisher.

The companies did not disclose the financial aspects of the transaction, but CNBC cited an anonymous source that put the deal at approximately $1 billion.

What Happened: Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, Politico was founded in 2007 and covers the U.S. political environment through its website, newspaper, radio programming and podcasts.

In 2014, Politico partnered with Axel Springer on Politico Europe, a Brussels-based publication covering the European Union, and the companies also publish the tech news website Protocol from Robert Allbritton; Axel Springer will also acquire Politico’s stakes in those endeavors.

“It will be a privilege and a special responsibility to help shape the future of this outstanding media company,” said Mathias Döpfner, CEO Axel Springer. “Objective quality journalism is more important than ever, and we mutually believe in the necessity of editorial independence and nonpartisan reporting. This is crucial for our future success and accelerated growth.”

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What Else Happened: In May, The Wall Street Journal reported Axel Springer was pursuing an acquisition of Axios, the digital news publisher. It's not certain whether that potential transaction would continue in the wake of the Politico purchase.

Axel Springer owns a majority stake in Business Insider's parent company, Insider Inc.

Politico is the second U.S. political news publisher to be acquired within a week. On Aug. 20, Nexstar Media Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. NXST, acquired the online political news resource The Hill for $130 million.

Photo: The Politico newsroom, courtesy of the company.