International Biz Times buys Newsweek

The International Business Times, a business news operation that launched in 2005, has reached an agreement to acquire Newsweek magazine, reports Joe Pompeo of Capital New York.

Pompeo writes, “In a private deal, none of the details of which are yet clear, the Newsweek brand is now the property of a digital start-up that has flown under the public radar while rapidly increasing its real readership across the internet.

“International Business Times, with its 10 national editions worldwide, published in several languages, is a relative newcomer: Launching in 2005 as the brainchild of Etienne Uzaac and Jonathan Davis, an economics grad student and a computer programmer, the property experienced rapid readership growth in 2010 and 2011, and in 2012 announed the formation of an editorial team led by Jeffrey Rothfeder, a former National Editor for Bloomberg News.

“One irony not lost on New York media locals: In a 2011 expansion, IBT Media moved into new headquarters at 7 Hanover Square, the previous headquarters of Newsweek. The move was characterized by The New York Observer as ‘braving bad juju.’

“An internal memo announcing the sale that went out to employees of Newsweek and the Daily Beast today said that Brown’s staff will continue to run the publication for a transition period of 60 days.”

Read more here. Talking Biz News’ September 2012 interview with Rothfeder about its news operation can be found here.