The media world is in a period of consolidation, from small companies to giants like WarnerMedia and Discovery.
The digital-publishing space has been no exception, with BuzzFeed announcing last month that it would acquire Complex Networks and go public via a special-purpose acquisition company.
While CEOs, bankers, and advisors are typically the the most high-profile dealmakers in the digital-publishing space, some of these companies also employ corporate development specialists who evaluate potential acquisitions.
Insider has identified 13 of the key behind-the-scenes employees working on M&A for some of the most active digital publishers. They're likely to have a busy second half of the year.
This list is ordered alphabetically by company.
Alex Mather, CEO of The Athletic
Yes, Mather is a CEO, but media insiders say he has been the key figure leading the company's recent corporate development efforts.
The Athletic has been the subject of plenty of reporting about potential M&A activity, reportedly speaking to Axios and The New York Times about tie-ups — though both conversations reportedly broke down, according to the Information and the Wall Street Journal.
An Athletic spokesperson would not comment but said that the company has not yet hired a banker.
Mather cofounded the paid subscription sports site in 2016. Prior to that, he was vice president of product management and product design at Strava, a social network for athletes.
Gabriel Brotman, senior vice president of investments, and Lars Kahl, senior vice president of investments and business development at Axel Springer
Brotman and Kahl are Axel Springer's duo in the US working on digital media investments as the German publishing giant — which owns Insider — expands its footprint.
Brotman was previously a cofounder of Politico Europe, a joint venture between Politico and Axel Springer. He worked in corporate development at Politico's parent company on acquisitions like European Voice and Capital New York.
Kahl joined Axel Springer's accelerator in Berlin in 2016 before moving to its digital unit. Since 2019, he has worked out of New York on international investments.
"Apart from the well-reported consolidation trends, we're seeing a lot of successful entrepreneurs and startup teams looking for bigger platforms to fuel growth, diversification and geographic expansion. That's where we see our sweet spot," Brotman and Kahl said in an email to Insider.
Roy Schwartz, cofounder and president of Axios
Schwartz cofounded Axios with CEO Jim VandeHei and newsletter writer Mike Allen. The three branched off in 2017 after working at Politico, where Schwartz served as chief revenue officer.
Along with VandeHei, Schwartz works on Axios' M&A strategy. Last year, the company bought Charlotte Agenda as it readied a push into local news. Schwartz told Insider that Axios is geared toward a readership of smart business professionals. "Our consolidation philosophy is driven by our desire to continue to grow and support that audience," he said.
Axios has itself been a target of deal chatter in recent weeks. The Wall Street Journal reported that the company spoke with The Athletic, but that those talks halted. The Information reported in May that the company was in talks to be acquired by Axel Springer.
Spokespeople for Axios and Axel Springer declined to comment.
Sharmi Gandhi, senior vice president of corporate development at Bustle Digital Group
Bustle Digital Group has been known as one of the main bargain hunters in digital media, grabbing up properties like Nylon, Elite Daily, and Gawker's intellectual property for a forthcoming relaunch. Gandhi now oversees M&A activity after joining in March.
She previously worked at Endeavor Streaming, launching consumer OTT video services. She was also executive vice president of strategy and development at Mic, which Bustle Digital Group acquired in 2019.
"The media industry is incredibly active right now, and we're going to see several deals happen over the next year," Gandhi told Insider. "I'm focused on finding media brands with passionate audiences that would benefit from leveraging BDG's shared sales, tech, and support infrastructure."
Felicia DellaFortuna, chief financial officer at BuzzFeed
Spurred by CEO Jonah Peretti's long-held goal to roll up more digital media companies, BuzzFeed announced last month that it will go public via a special-purpose acquisition company and acquire style and sports publisher Complex Networks for $300 million. Earlier this year, BuzzFeed closed its acquisition of HuffPost.
Now the company is on the hunt for more acquisitions. At the press conference announcing the SPAC, Peretti was joined by DellaFortuna, BuzzFeed's chief financial officer. While Peretti is BuzzFeed's key deal maker, DellaFortuna works behind the scenes on the company's acquisitions.
DellaFortuna joined in 2015 as a senior director of finance, and previously worked at adtech company and Myspace owner Viant.
Peter Lattman, managing director at Emerson Collective
Lattman looks after media investments for Emerson Collective, the investment vehicle of Laurene Powell Jobs, who has spent the last few years increasing her footprint in media.
He is the vice chairman of The Atlantic, which Emerson took control of in 2017. He also sits on the board of Anonymous Content, the studio behind "Mr. Robot," in which Emerson holds a controlling stake.
"Quality and commercial value are not mutually exclusive. That's a core belief," Lattman told Insider about Emerson's investment philosophy.
Before joining in 2016, Lattman worked as a journalist for The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.
Taha Ahmed, vice president of corporate development and strategy at Forbes
Ahmed leads M&A and investments at Forbes, which has itself been the subject of takeover rumors. Reuters reported in May that the business publisher is in talks to be acquired by an investor group for $650 million. A Forbes spokesperson did not immediately comment.
Forbes is currently owned by Hong Kong-based Integrated Whale Investments, which bought 95% of the company in 2014.
Ahmed has plenty of digital-media M&A experience. As an executive at Group Nine Media, he was involved in the 2016 roll-up of Thrillist, NowThis, The Dodo, and other properties into one digital media entity. He began his career as an analyst at Goldman Sachs.
Sean Macnew, chief financial officer at Group Nine Media
Sean Macnew joined Group Nine via an acquisition — he was the chief financial and operating officer for Popsugar, which Group Nine took over in 2019.
Now the company is preparing for an even bigger deal. Group Nine became the first large digital publisher to embrace the SPAC trend earlier this year. The Group Nine SPAC, where Macnew also serves as CFO, plans to eventually acquire Group Nine along with another media company.
"Our inorganic growth strategy continues to focus on expanding our reach through new categories, deepening our audience connection in existing categories, and adding new capabilities to make us even more nimble," Macnew told Insider.
He previously worked at Symantec and holds an MBA from Stanford.
Brandon Sokol, senior vice president of corporate development and strategy at News Corp
Sokol joined News Corp in 2017 and focuses on M&A activity, including the company's recent purchase of Investors Business Daily and book publisher Houghton Mifflin. He also works on divestitures, like News Corp's sale of its adtech unit Unruly to Tremor International last year.
A graduate of DePauw University, where he edited the college newspaper, Sokol previously worked in corporate development roles at Mediaocean and Tribune Media.
He began his career as a tech, media, and telecom analyst at J.P. Morgan, and has an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
William Bardeen, chief strategy officer at the New York Times
Bardeen oversees all business development and M&A at The New York Times, which he joined in 2004. He was named chief strategy officer in November 2018.
The newspaper is sitting on a large cash position that could fuel more acquisitions in the future. Recently, the Times has been making moves in audio, acquiring Serial Productions for $25 million, as well as subscription audio app Audm, last year.
Bardeen previously worked as a managemnt consultant. According to a 2007 wedding announcement, his paternal grandfather was John Bardeen, a two-time winner of the Nobel Prize in physics.
Hozefa Lokhandwala, chief strategy officer at Vice
Lokhandwala leads Vice's corporate strategy when it comes to business development and M&A. He joined the company after serving as a managing director focusing on media investments at JPMorgan.
Lokhandwala, who holds a JD from Brooklyn Law School and an MBA from Columbia, might have a busy few months. Many in the digital-media world are wondering what comes next for Vice, whose CEO Nancy Dubuc has signaled it might be the next digital media company to pursue a SPAC.
The company has also made recent acquisitions, like its 2019 purchase of Refinery29.
Shyra Smart, senior vice president for business development and corporate development at Vox Media
Smart joined Vox Media through its 2019 merger with New York Magazine's parent company, where she ran business development and worked on partnerships, distribution, and syndication. Smart, who went to the University of Pennsylvania and has an MBA. from NYU, previously worked at the Daily Beast, Viacom, HBO, and Fox Searchlight Pictures.
Smart told Insider that she expects to see a lot of consolidation in media in the near-term as companies continue to attempt to diversify revenue streams. "We're starting to see a landscape in which only the strongest operators in the space will be left standing," she said.
"Our approach to M&A is extremely methodical, we're not out here looking to gobble up distressed assets at a discount, or use severe cost cutting strategies to integrate. We're looking for assets that will complement and continue to scale our business," Smart added.