Tech

Amazon to Acquire Podcast Studio Wondery

Amazon announced that it inked a deal to acquire Wondery, a four-year-old podcast creator and producer.

Terms of the deal, under which the Wondery team will join the Amazon Music group, were not disclosed. Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal reported that Amazon was in talks to buy Wondery in a deal worth over $300 million.

“We’re pleased to announce that Wondery — an innovative podcast publisher with a track record of creating and producing top-rated podcasts — has signed an agreement to join Amazon Music,” the e-commerce giant said in announcing the deal Wednesday. “With Amazon Music, Wondery will be able to provide even more high-quality, innovative content and continue their mission of bringing a world of entertainment and knowledge to their audiences, wherever they listen.”

The deal has yet to close, pending usual closing conditions. According to Amazon, “When the deal closes, nothing will change for listeners, and they’ll continue to be able to access Wondery podcasts through a variety of providers.”

This past June, Wondery founder and CEO Hernan Lopez told Variety that the company had about 20 million monthly unique listeners.

The acquisition of Wondery is part of Amazon’s strategy to monetize the podcast gold rush — and keep pace with Spotify’s push into podcasting. In September, Amazon Music launched several million episodes of free podcasts and announced a slate of original podcasts being produced exclusively for Amazon Music, including shows from DJ Khaled, Becky G, Will Smith and Dan Patrick. In addition, Amazon-owned Audible recently added about 100,000 podcast shows, encompassing 5 million episodes.

“This is a pivotal moment to expand the Amazon Music offering beyond music as listener habits evolve,” Amazon said in announcing the Wondery pact. “Wondery is already delighting listeners with its collection of immersive podcasts, and the company is evolving this entertainment medium into a truly new and exciting experience.”

Wondery’s original shows include “Joe Exotic: Tiger King,” “Dr. Death,” “Bad Batch,” “The Shrink Next Door,” “Business Wars,” “American History Tellers,” “Tides of History,” “The Daily Smile” and “Imagined Life.”

Wondery had raised about $15 million to date. The company’s investors include Lerer Hippeau, Greycroft, BDMI, Advancit Capital, Water Tower Ventures, Powerhouse Ventures and Waverley Capital, the VC firm formed by Edgar Bronfman Jr. and Luminari Capital’s Daniel Leff.

Lopez, formerly CEO of 21st Century Fox’s Fox International Channels, founded L.A.-based Wondery in 2016 with the mission of producing high-quality scripted and unscripted podcast entertainment.

A key revenue stream for Wondery has been adapting its most popular original podcasts for TV. Universal Content Productions, for example, is developing a “Joe Exotic” show based on the Wondery podcast with Kate McKinnon set to star and executive produce and also is producing a series adaptation of Wondery’s “Dr. Death” for NBCUniversal’s Peacock, with Jamie Dornan, Christian Slater and Alec Baldwin set to star.

In the deal with Amazon, Wondery was advised by investment bank LionTree, which also advised on SiriusXM’s acquisition of podcast network and producer Stitcher and the New York Times’ deal for Serial Productions.

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