Latin media powerhouse Univision is circling Nick Denton’s cash-hungry Gawker Media, The Post has learned.
Univision has discussed partnering with or investing in the New York-based digital media outfit, which was racing to raise cash ahead of a whopping $140 million legal judgment against it last month.
A Florida jury sided with former WWE star Hulk Hogan in his invasion-of-privacy lawsuit against Gawker for posting snippets of a sex tape involving the former pro wrestler.
Gawker will hear on May 25 whether a judge will grant its request to reduce that award, which the company has said would be “ruinous.”
Gawker, which operates sites like Jezebel and Gizmodo in addition to its flagship property, will also find out if it needs to post an initial $50 million bond while it appeals the verdict.
A Gawker rep confirmed there had been talks with potential partners that most recently resulted in Columbus Nova taking a stake in the gossip destination. The specter of losing the Hogan case led Denton to bring in his first outside investor.
“Gawker confirms there have been discussions with Univision about Spanish-language versions of lifestyle sites Gizmodo and Lifehacker,” the rep said.
Univision declined to comment.
The talks come at a tough time for digital news outfits. Mashable recently axed its news reporting to focus on entertainment videos after Turner Broadcasting took a stake. This week, struggling Demand Media sold humor site Cracked.com to E.W. Scripps for $39 million.
In January, Univision took a 40 percent stake in The Onion Inc., in a deal that valued the owner of the satirical news site at $200 million.
Univision’s digital team under ex-Googler Mark López has been targeting acquisitions to build a wider presence across platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.