HuffPost Australia’s joint venture with Fairfax Media is likely to come to an end as the publisher examines its global strategy, AdNews understands.
A spokesperson confirms that HuffPost is in “high level discussions” with Fairfax regarding the future of the joint venture, but “no definite decisions have been made”.
The review of the Australian branch follows the departure of HuffPost’s founder Arianna Huffington, which has led to the business examining its global expansion strategy.
AdNews understands redundancies would follow the end of the joint venture. HuffPost currently lists 32 Australia-based staff on its LinkedIn Page.
In the first indication that HuffPost was looking to split from Fairfax, the publisher formed its own dedicated sales team back in November. Previously it used Fairfax sales staff.
When the website first launched in 2015, and Fairfax took a 49% interest in the business, Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN) secured exclusive rights for HuffPost’s inventory for an “undisclosed period of time”.
However, in November 2016, DAN announced it would not be renewing the ad sales deal on the same terms after being disappointed by the site’s impact.
At the time of launch, the company was led by Chris Janz, now managing director of Fairfax Media’s metro publishing division. He was eventually replaced by former RocketFuel managing director JJ Eastwood.
HuffPost is 51% owned by AOL and its restructure could be a result of the formation of Oath, which sees merged Yahoo and AOL become one group.
In late October, HuffPost’s joint venture with the Times of India collapsed. HuffPost India is still publishing, but with a reduced staff and its future is unclear.
HuffPost India was launched only eight months before HuffPost Australia.
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