Three News Publishers Acquire 75% of Topix.net
Three major news companies have bought 75% of Topix.net, acquiring an even stake for each publishing giant. Gannett Co., Inc., Knight-Ridder, Inc. and Tribune Company jointly have acquired a 75 percent stake in Topix.net. Ownership is split evenly, with each media company owning 25 percent and the Topix.net founders retaining a 25 percent stake.
Topix.net monitors news from over 10,000 online sources and categorizes daily news content into over 300,000 topics, 24 hours a day. Keeping its sovernity, Topix.net will operate as an editorially independent, stand-alone company managed by Topix.net’s executive team. The news aggregation site features links to news and information from more than 10,000 news sources including newspapers, magazines, radio, television stations and blogs.
Topix.net uses its NewsRank(TM) technology to deliver highly relevant news, using concept, instead of simple keyword searches. It delivers published news stories organized by ZIP code, industry and hundreds of thousands of topics.
Topix.net will use content and funding from Gannett, Knight Ridder and Tribune to expand and refine its NewsRank(TM) technology, services and operational infrastructure. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
“This transaction provides us with the resources to be the best place to connect to a very wide range of news on the Web,” said Rich Skrenta, CEO and co-founder of Topix.net. “We all serve the news enthusiast, so it’s a natural partnership. Gannett, Knight Ridder and Tribune generate valuable online content and Topix.net is dedicated to making that content easily found. By believing in the potential of our ideas and technology, they have made an investment in the future, and we’re thrilled to be a part of it.”
