Time Inc. continued some early holiday shopping, officially announcing its acquisition of women’s lifestyle and beauty websites xoJane.com and xoVain.com after a week of speculation on the impending deal.
Following last week's acquisition of HelloGiggles, the move is yet another attempt by Time Inc. at expanding its reach to a young, increasingly-digitized female audience. Other major publishers have made similar millennial-grabbing moves of late; Condé Nast purchased music site Pitchfork and Hearst signed an advertising and distribution agreement with Lena Dunham’s newsletter, Lenny.
“We are delighted to have the opportunity to serve this modern, inclusive community of women, increasing our reach in this important segment and providing our advertising partners with more access to targeted, engaged audiences,” says Time Inc. EVP Evelyn Webster in a company release.
Since last year’s spin-off from Time Warner, Time Inc. has undergone considerable effort to expand its brand portfolio and audiences in an effort to develop new revenue streams, all with an increasing emphasis on digital content.
Over the summer, Time Inc. acquired sports news site Fansided and created Sports Illustrated Play, a digital platform devoted to youth and amateur sports. Then, earlier this month, the company announced that All You, the coupon-filled, once-ubiquitous shopping companion that held an exclusive deal with Walmart for ten years, would cease operations at the end of 2015.
Founder and editor-in-chief Jane Pratt, as well as her editorial staff, will stay on and make the move to Time Inc.’s lower Manhattan headquarters, reporting to Time Inc. style network general manager Deborah Marquardt.
xoJane.com received 2.5 million unique visitors in September, according to comScore, while sister site xoVain.com had 958,000 over the same period. Pratt had been seeking a buyer since previous owner Say Media made the decision to divest from all of its editorial properties in February.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
