Insider’s Parent Axel Springer Wants to Help Drive US Media Mergers

Axel Springer, the German owner of Business Insider, is ready to take part in a second wave of consolidation in the U.S. digital media market, according to the company’s U.S.-based head of news and media investments, Lars Kahl.

Backed by its big new shareholder, private equity giant KKR, Axel Springer wants to spend 2021 on an expansion drive. Its main U.S. media operation—Business Insider’s parent company, Insider—recently spent $75 million to acquire newsletter publisher Morning Brew. Meanwhile, Business Insider has gone on a hiring spree to expand its journalism in an effort to build its subscription business.