Essence Ventures LLC, the parent company to Essence Magazine, is in negotiations to acquire Refinery29, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Essence Ventures is owned by Richelieu Dennis, the co-founder and chair of Group Black, a media group that strives to increase ad spending with Black-owned media. Acquisition of Refinery29 could mean that Essence would widely expand its reach in the female-oriented digital space, especially by appealing to a younger audience. This may result in an uptick in advertising revenue for Essence as well as save Refinery29 from financial distress.
The women-centered lifestyle magazine was purchased by Vice Media Group in 2019 for $400 million. Sources told The Wall Street Journal that Essence will likely pay a fraction of that price if the deal is reached.
Since launching in 2005, Refinery29 has been a media giant amongst millennial women readers. But in 2022, the popular platform saw a decrease of $20 million in profits from the previous year. This is likely due to waning website traffic and a decrease in advertising revenue.
In 2020, Refinery29 faced controversy when a group of Black and Brown employees and freelancers took to social media to
share stories of racial discrimination, including pay disparities between people of color and white employees.The news of this possible acquisition comes a week after Refinery29’s parent company, Vice Media Group, announced that they will be conducting massive layoffs as well as discontinuing the publication of content on its website. Once a lucrative media entity, Vice has been facing financial woes in recent years. The media conglomerate filed for bankruptcy in May of 2023 and was acquired by Fortress Investment Group, one of its lenders, the following month. With online publication discontinued, Fortress is redirecting its attention to Vice’s other companies, including a TV network, production studio, and their ad agency, Virtue.
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