The Independent takes control of BuzzFeed UK and HuffPost UK

BuzzFeed Inc., once the poster child of disruptive online media, will hand what remains of its UK and Ireland operations to British news business Independent Digital News & Media Ltd. in a long-term licensing agreement.

The Independent will gain BuzzFeed UK’s website, commercial and editorial staff and back-end technology. The deal also includes the UK and Irish arms of BuzzFeed-owned operations HuffPost, food network Tasty, and Seasoned, a vertical targeted at Black audiences.

The two parties didn’t share the length or financial terms of the deal. Some 30 people will join the Independent from BuzzFeed, a spokesperson for the Independent said. The person said no one had been laid off as part of the deal, but declined to comment on the likelihood of future job cuts.


The deal marks an unceremonious end to BuzzFeed’s decade in the country. Founded in 2006, it was launched in the UK seven years later, hiring award-winning journalists from British newspapers. BuzzFeed has struggled in recent years with cutbacks in internet advertising.

The firm’s share price has declined 56% over the last 12 months, but has clawed back gains this year after announcing plans to sell assets and cut jobs. In February, it announced plans to cut 16% of its global workforce, after eliminating its news division.

The Independent, a newspaper for about 30 years and now a digital news operation, hopes to build “Britain’s biggest publisher network for Gen Z and millennial audiences,” Chief Executive Officer Christian Broughton said in a statement Thursday.