Sports-media Athletic is in early-stage merger talks with news startup Axios, according to Wall Street Journal. The talks are part of a plan to build a larger online-publishing company that could list through a black-check firm.
Athletic and Axios CEOs held general conversations about business opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the talks escalated significantly in recent days.
If Athletic and Axios merge, the combined company could seek funding for expansions and acquisitions.
The companies seek to bring additional digital publishers into the fold, especially those with content that consumers are willing to pay for and earn a premium from advertisers.
The plan under consideration requires Athletic and Axios to operate as distinct digital properties, each with its journalists and editorial products.
Axios and Athletic see potential growth in selling subscriptions to businesses at a premium rate.
Although the companies consider going public by merging with a blank-check company, there are other options under consideration.
The companies have complementary footprints in some local markets, a major potential selling point of the merger.
It is not clear who would lead the combined companies as talks are preliminary and could collapse.
The Athletic, which has newsrooms in North America, the U.K, and Australia, has more than 600 full-time employees while Axios has about 250 employees.
