Graham Holdings Co. to acquire Leaf Group Ltd. for $323M

Arlington-based Graham Holdings Co. announced Tuesday that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Santa Monica, California-based consumer internet company Leaf Group Ltd. in a $323 million, all-cash transaction.

Graham Holdings will acquire all outstanding shares of Leaf Group’s common stock at $8.50 per share. The transaction is expected to close in June or July.

Leaf Group’s portfolio of creator-driven lifestyle brands include Well + Good, Livestrong.com, Saatchi Art and Society6.

Graham Holdings is the family company of the late Katharine Graham, who was the publisher and owner of The Washington Post. Its current holdings include online magazine Slate, digital marketing company SocialCode LLC, a group of seven television stations and higher education company Kaplan Inc. The company also holds Graham Media Group, which was formerly the Post-Newsweek Stations.

“At Graham Holdings, we look for businesses that can prosper under our ownership and Leaf Group’s collection of marketplace and media brands make for a growing company that can do just that. We’re thrilled to partner with [Leaf Group CEO] Sean [Moriarty] and his team and look forward to driving profitable growth at Leaf Group,” Graham Holdings CEO Timothy J. O’Shaughnessy said in a statement.

Sean Moriarty, CEO of Leaf Group, said, “We could not be more pleased to be joining forces with an organization with such a rich history and shared commitment to excellence. Together, we look forward to continuing to build on the strong momentum Leaf Group generated over the past year, with the additional resources and expertise of Graham Holdings helping us further grow the reach of our young brands and innovate for our customers, creators and audiences.”