Report: Axel Springer negotiating to buy Axios

Media company Axel Springer is looking to buy Axios, The Information reported Friday.

Axel Springer is a German media company that owns Insider, a majority stake in Morning Brew, as well as multiple European media brands including the German edition of Rolling Stone and POLITICO.eu.

Axios was launched in 2017 by Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen. 

Allen declined to discuss the deal with The Hill and instead referred questions to the company’s media spokesperson, who also declined to comment.

An Axel Springer spokesperson also declined to answer questions about the deal from The Hill. 

In March, rumors surfaced that Axios might merge with the subscription-based sports media company The Athletic to form a larger digital media company.

However, that deal reportedly failed to materialize in early May and The Athletic began considering a deal with The New York Times.

The rumored acquisition is only the latest deal involving digital media brands currently being considered. 

On May 10, news leaked of a proposed merger between Vice Media and investment company 7GC & Co Holdings.

The next day, a similar story broke about BuzzFeed acquiring digital lifestyle publisher Complex Networks in a deal that would also have it merge with a special acquisition company and go public.