Essence magazine’s corporate parent Sundial Media Group has agreed to buy women’s lifestyle company Refinery29 from Vice Media, the company said Thursday. The deal offers Refinery29 a lifeline after a tumultuous few years under the Vice Media brand.
When the Pittsburgh Post Gazette pulled reporter Alexis Johnson off coverage of protests triggered by George Floyd’s death, nobody anticipated it would lead to a staff revolt and become a national story, part of an extraordinary week where the news media’s sluggishness in promoting diversity became part of the national conversation.
The companies have hammered out the broad strokes of a deal that would be a mixture of stock and some cash, and would have Refinery29 management stay on. It would add a large and female-skewing digital media company to Vice’s portfolio.
Exclusives
The digital, millennial-focused women’s lifestyle brand has made a deal with Turner to produce TV and digital programming together, as well as to sell advertising jointly. Turner led a $45 million funding round for Refinery29 as part of the deal. While specific collaborative ideas are still embryonic, TV is “an incredibly high-impact, high-engagement, high-quality medium that we just really want to be producing content for,” says Refinery29 CEO Justin Stefano.
Vox, Ozy.com and Refinery29 are among a growing number of new media brands are looking to differentiate themselves among a crowded pack of publishers.
