In an effort to grow within the U.S. Hispanic market and Latin America, Gawker Media, the publishing network behind Gizmodo, Gawker and Deadspin, has acquired Guanabee, a Hispanic-targeted web site founded in 2006 by Daniel Mauser. Financial terms were not disclosed.
As part of the transaction, Gawker will acquire Guanabee’s assets and has hired Mauser as Head of International Business, Latin America. The company also announced the 2013 launch of Gizmodo en español, “La guía de gadgets.” Gizmodo, a site focused on gadgets and tech culture, is Gawker Media’s most popular site, registering over 9 million monthly unique visitors.
“Part of the plan is to expand the company’s international revenues,” Mauser tells Portada. “This includes US-Spanish speakers, Latin America and Spain, Mauser adds. There are about 500 million Spanish speakers globally.
Gizmodo en Español will be the first site to launch under Gawker Media’s Kinja discussion platform, where readers participate in the story not only as commentators but also as content makers.
Currently, international revenues represent 5 percent of Gawker Media’s total revenues, and the plan is to increase this figure to 20 percent in the next five years.
Gizmodo en Español will be the first site to launch under Gawker Media’s Kinja discussion platform, where readers participate in the story not only as commentators but also as content makers. Guanabee will follow thereafter with plans to extend to Latin America.
In an interview with Business Insider, Gawker Media founder Nick Denton said the goal of the Guanabee acquisition is to accelerate growth in Latin America and obtain the services of Mauser. Guanabee and Gawker have been longtime advertising partners.
Gawker Media has 180 employees, 40 whom are based outside the U.S. The network says it has about 35 million monthly unique visitors and serves up 560 million monthly pageviews. Guanabee has 400,000 unique visitors.
