The Right Type of Strategic Buyer

Most of the M&A I write about on A Media Operator deals between media or media-like companies. Informa bought Industry Dive. NewsCorp buys OPIS. These are all deals where the media company thinks it can better run or operationalize another media company.

But the other major buyer is the strategic one. In this situation, a non-media company sees the media asset and imagines it is an excellent part of the go-to-market strategy. This is likely the thesis behind HubSpot buying the Hustle back in early 2021.