Tech blog GigaOm has acquired Content Next Media, parent of PaidContent and related blogs.
Content Next, first acquired by Guardian Media in 2008, has been on the shopping block in recent months, as GMG looks to focus its operations.
Of all the rumored buyers (including AOL, Vox Media, WebMediaBrands, Dow Jones, SAY Media) this is likely the best possible result, both for readers and the Content Next team.
From the outside, it looks as though the two companies have very similar cultures. Both founded around the same time as independent blogs (by Om Malik and Rafat Ali), GigaOm has been able to remain solo, taking venture funding along the way.
The combined GigaOm - Content Next will be an impressive media company:
- Great editorial - from editors and writers like Staci Kramer, Ernie Sander, Mathew Ingram, Nicole Solis, Om Malik, Erica Ogg and others - will yield great coverage of the digital media and technology space.
- Both companies have great events - including Structure, Structure: Data, Mobilize, PaidContent, PaidContent Entertainment, and more.
- GigaOm has experimented with paid research, led by VP research Michael Wolf, which has the potential to grow further.
With a modest cost structure, the combined company should retain the flexibility and nimbleness to test and adapt in an ever-changing digital media environment.
Congratulations to both companies. I look forward to seeing what comes next.
