Vox Media Acquires Curbed, Eater, Racked

Eater just upped its game in the food media world, thanks to a buyout by Vox Media, SB Nation and The Verge's parent company.

Vox announced the buyout Sunday night, Nov. 10, acquiring Lockhart Steele's Curbed Network (behind Curbed.com, Racked.com, and Eater.com) for an estimated $20 to $30 million, The New York Times reports.

Curbed, founded in 2005 by former Gawker managing editor Steele, reportedly has revenues in the high single-digit millions, Business Insider reports. The only funding Curbed Network has reportedly received was $1.5 million in 2007 from angel investors. Currently, the network attracts 5.1 million unique visitors a month (5.9 million when counting international visitors).

Vox, on the other hand, recently raised $34 million in investment capital; in total, the company has raised about $60 million, with 41 million unique monthly users from the United States, according to Quantcast.

Curbed will bring Racked, Eater, and Curbed to the SB Nation, The Verge, and Polygon family. Both companies are privately held, so revenues and deal details have not been disclosed. Steele and his co-founders will remain with Curbed Network, with Steele remaining editor-in-chief of the publications.