BuzzFeed Snags HuffPo: The Information’s Tech Briefing

Consolidation in digital media took a small step forward today when BuzzFeed announced it will acquire HuffPost from Verizon. It’s an elegant combination from a historical perspective: Media investor Ken Lerer and BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti were both involved in founding HuffPost 15 years ago. But whether the deal helps BuzzFeed amass more scale—which is the goal of consolidation—is questionable.

HuffPost has by all accounts deteriorated under the oversight of telecom executives at Verizon. A New York Post report in September, about Verizon’s efforts to sell the site, estimated its annual revenue was between $45 million and $50 million. That’s about a sixth of BuzzFeed’s. It also suggests HuffPost may be worth less than $100 million, a sharp discount on the $315 million it fetched when Lerer and friends sold it to AOL in 2011 (AOL ended up being swallowed up by Verizon in 2015).