TORONTO — ZoomerMedia Limited announced today it has acquired Freshdaily Inc., owner and publisher of blogTO, which ZoomerMedia’s press release describes as “the leading digital source for local Toronto news, culture, restaurant reviews, event listings, and all the best the city has to offer.”
The press release says ZoomerMedia has acquired all of the shares of Freshdaily, but a purchase price was not disclosed.
A ZoomerMedia spokesperson said via email both companies preferred to keep the financial details of the transaction confidential.
The acquisition provides ZoomerMedia with “a local audience that is unrivaled in terms of online and social media reach and engagement,” the press release says.
“Thus far we have been edging our analog radio, TV, and magazine products and audiences into the digital domain,” said Moses Znaimer, ZoomerMedia’s founder and CEO, in the release.
“In aggregate our digital properties today deliver over 50 million page views a year. This acquisition will add 350 million+ such views (and growing rapidly) and is also intended to kickstart a suite of new, mobile-friendly, digital offerings that we will soon announce,” Znaimer said.
One of the key benefits of the transaction is it “introduces a new and younger demographic to the ZoomerMedia fold, enabling a full spectrum offering to clients and partners,” the release says.
“I’m a known believer in the local,” Znaimer said. “Zoomer Radio and Classical FM already bring local news and life to the older demo. blogTO does that for the younger cohorts. Together they make a complete offering, for the public as well as the advertiser.”
“This sale represents an exciting new chapter for blogTO,” said Tim Shore, blogTO’s founder. “Combining our digital experience and capabilities with the resources of ZoomerMedia will allow us to quickly expand in ways that would not have been possible otherwise.
“I particularly look forward to working with Moses and am confident his unparalleled industry experience and creative vision will help us grow and evolve in innovative and unexpected ways.”
When asked if ZoomerMedia has any plans to change blogTO, ZoomerMedia spokesperson Leanne Wright told Cartt.ca via email “blogTO is on a content roll and we’re here to give them more oxygen and fuel so they can produce more of it in different ways.”
Wright added: “It won’t be a surprise to anyone that Moses, as Tim Shore said, continues to come up with innovative and unexpected ideas. We’ve just made the announcement so stay tuned for what’s next.”
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