Puck buys Air Mail in cash and stock deal
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Image: Air Mail and Puck
Subscription newsletter company Puck has acquired Air Mail, the digital media startup founded by magazine veteran Graydon Carter, Puck confirmed to Axios on Thursday.
Why it matters: The deal brings together two like-minded digital media startups and serves as a poetic business exit for Carter, who mentored Puck co-founder Jon Kelly at Vanity Fair.
- It also ends a long exit process for Air Mail's investors. Reports that the company was in talks to sell for around $50 million began to surface in February 2024.
How it works: The deal, which a source familiar with Puck's finances said is a combination of mostly stock and some cash, will bring Air Mail's lifestyle, culture and travel content into Puck's subscription platform. It gives Puck access to Air Mail's high-end readers and subscribers.
- "This combination is about amplifying what makes both brands special and delivering even greater value to our readers," Puck CEO Sarah Personette said in a statement.
- Carter and Air Mail co-editor Alessandra Stanley will step down as part of the deal, according to a source familiar with the transaction. Deputy managing editor Julia Vitale will stay on as Air Mail's editor.
- Most Air Mail employees will stay on and become Puck employees with the transaction, per a source familiar with the deal.
Zoom in: Puck and Air Mail share investors in Standard Investments, an investment arm of Standard Industries, and private equity giant TPG.
- It was reported that Kelly and Carter were not on speaking terms in recent weeks as deal terms were being hashed out, but both founders offered glowing remarks about one another in new statements.
- "Graydon Carter is a titan and trailblazer of our industry and his decades of experience and success — inventing Spy, reinventing The New York Observer, and his heralded quarter century transformation of Vanity Fair into a cultural institution — has shaped Air Mail's inimitable voice and look," Kelly said.
- "Sharp, crisp reporting on their end and international coverage of politics, the arts, and interesting scandals on ours. We feel that with Jon Kelly and Sarah Personette, we have ideal partners," Carter said.
Between the lines: Carter and Kelly share a similar world view that digital journalism brands should embody the aesthetic and editorial voice that was embraced in the glossy magazine era.
- Kelly was a longtime disciple of Carter when they worked at Condé Nast-owned Vanity Fair.
By the numbers: Puck has raised more than $17 million since it launched in 2021. Air Mail has raised more than $30 million across two funding rounds.
- The source told Axios that Puck is on track to make more than $20 million in revenue this year, with the majority coming from ads and sponsorship sales. The company has nearly 50,000 paid subscribers.
- Neither Puck nor Air Mail is profitable. Puck expects to be profitable next year.
The big picture: The deal reflects a desire for consolidation among niche, subscription-first outlets.
- Both companies center their distribution on newsletters but have been expanding into new revenue streams.
- In recent months, Puck has focused on expanding its events business and its coverage of Washington. Air Mail has invested in e-commerce and new lifestyle offerings.
