Univision, the Spanish language media outlet that has been making a big digital push, has purchased Gawker Media for $135 million. The purchase is subject to approval by a bankruptcy court judge.
The only two bidders were Univision and Ziff Davis, an Internet and magazine publishing company. Ziff Davis, which had expressed interest early on, bid $90 million.
Univision is primarily known for its Spanish language offerings, but the company has made efforts to expand its digital footprint. It bought the African-American centric website The Root as well as the satirical The Onion and its sister websites, Clickhole and AV Club. Univision also started Fusion, a news organization targeted towards millennials, with Disney’s ABC News, but Walt Disney sold out of the project earlier this year.
One property in question is Gawker.Com, the flagship property. Univision has not said what it intends to do with the controversial site and its fate is up in the air. Univision can continue to run Gawker, shut it down, or it has the option of transferring it back. There have been reports that Gawker founder Nick Denton may be interested in buying back Gawker and then running it again.
Denton is not expected to remain with the company, but most of the company and its leadership is expected to remain. Denton has said that his priority is keeping the employees’ jobs safe and Univision has said that the staffers will keep their jobs. Should Gawker be shuttered, the employees of that site will have the ability to transfer to a different job.