Axios to sell itself to Cox Enterprises for $525m

Digital news publication Axios has agreed to sell itself to Cox Enterprises for $525m, according to reports.

The deal includes an additional $25m in investments for Axios’ media arm to expand the publication’s local, national, and subscription news products.

Cox will control the board of Axios’ media arm with four seats (including one for chairman and CEO Alex Taylor), but Axios’ three co-founders (Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen, and Roy Schwartz) will remain on the board.

Cox is purchasing Axios for more than 5x its revenue (Axios has projected its 2022 revenue to reach $100m).

The Atlanta-based global conglomerate Cox Enterprises was founded in Ohio in 1898 as a local newspaper company.

Axios is one of just a handful of digital news companies to be sold for over $500m in the past few years, following Politico (sold for $1bn in 2021) and The Athletic (sold to The New York Times Company in 2022 for $550m).