The New York Times Company entered into an agreement to acquire The Athletic Media Company for $550 million.

The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT) entered into an agreement to acquire The Athletic Media Company for $550 million on January 6, 2022. The total consideration will be all cash of $550 million, subject to customary closing adjustments. Post-completion, The Athletic Media Company will be a subsidiary of The New York Times Company and will continue to operate separately.

Athletic reported losses of $55 million in the year 2021. After the completion of the deal, Alex Mather, founder of The Athletic Media Company, will stay as The Athletic's General Manager and Co-President and Adam Hansmann, another founder of The Athletic Media Company, will stay as its Chief Operating Officer and Co-President. Alex Mather and Adam Hansmann will report to The New York Times Company Executive David Perpich.

David Perpich will be stepping into a new role as publisher of The Athletic. The transaction is subject to the expiration of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended. The Athletic's shareholders approved the agreement and the merger.

The board of directors of The New York Times Company and The Athletic have approved the transaction. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022. The transaction is currently expected to be immediately accretive to The New York Times Company's revenue growth rate.

The New York Times Company expects the acquisition will be dilutive to the operating profit for approximately three years, as it scales subscriptions and builds an advertising business, and accretive thereafter. Allen & Company LLC acted as financial advisor and Russell Franklin of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP acted as legal advisor to The New York Times Company. LionTree Advisors LLC acted as financial advisor and Andy Bradley, John Olson, Natalie Pierce and Jaime Narayan of Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian LLP acted as legal advisor to The Athletic.

Neil Hazan, Cassandra Florio, Joseph Takhmizdjian, Denes Rothschild, Sonia Mak, Jennifer Fantini, Kimberley Gosel, Wesley Lui, Katherine Stanger, Jordan Kay, Valérie Olivier, Danielle Windt, Sunny Garcha, Edmond Lo, Samantha Stepney, Jacky Wong and Brad Freedman.of Borden Ladner Gervais LLP acted as legal advisor to The New York Times Company.