Bloomberg Media to Acquire CityLab From The Atlantic

The following is a joint announcement issued by Bloomberg Media about the acquisition of CityLab from The Atlantic:

New York, December 10, 2019 – Bloomberg Media today announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire CityLab, The Atlantic’s award-winning news site for solutions-based journalism on urban innovation and the future of cities. The transaction is expected to close by the end of the year.

“We see tremendous value in investing in premium, targeted content to build deeper connections with our business audience,” said Justin B. Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Bloomberg Media. “CityLab is a leading destination for smart reads on urban solutions, a critical topic of the new economy. We believe this acquisition will strengthen our portfolio of content verticals across our platforms, while providing more opportunities for advertisers to connect to our readers.”

“We are thrilled to bring CityLab’s expert journalism to Bloomberg’s global audience,” said Bloomberg Editor in Chief John Micklethwait. “With journalists in more than 120 countries, we think we can also add some insight into how cities around the world are both succeeding and facing challenges.”

Bloomberg will also acquire the CityLab event series, the preeminent global summit that gathers mayors and urban leaders to discuss and share creative, scalable solutions to the major challenges faced by cities around the world. For the past seven years the event has been co-hosted by Bloomberg Philanthropies and will continue on as part of the deal.

The acquisition of CityLab will bring high-quality content on the environment, economics, culture and design to Bloomberg’s global business and finance audience. With its focus on innovative solutions for cities, the site will complement Bloomberg's forward-looking verticals, which include coverage of the future of health care (Prognosis), transportation (Hyperdrive) and retail (Checkout). More details on the integration will be announced in early 2020. In the meantime, CityLab.com will remain as a stand-alone site and retain its brand, operating under Bloomberg ownership.

“CityLab has become the leading site for readers looking to live, work, learn, challenge, and improve our cities,” said Michael Finnegan, president of Atlantic Media. “Bloomberg Media deeply understands and appreciates CityLab’s mission and reporting, and is positioned to support the continuation of this important work and brand that we’re proud to have built over the last eight years. We look forward to seeing CityLab continue to prosper under the Bloomberg banner.”

CityLab was founded as a stand-alone site by The Atlantic in 2011. CityLab investigates the trends and innovative solutions shaping the urban future, focusing on the biggest ideas and most pressing issues facing the world’s metro areas and neighborhoods.

Bloomberg Media, the consumer-facing media organization of Bloomberg LP, is the leading global business and financial media company reaching a premium audience of more than 80 million consumers. With over 2,700 journalists and analysts across 120 countries, Bloomberg Media connects influential audiences to news, ideas and intelligence across every platform: digital, TV, radio, print and live events.

About Bloomberg
Bloomberg, the global business and financial information and news leader, gives influential decision makers a critical edge by connecting them to a dynamic network of information, people and ideas. The company’s strength – delivering data, news and analytics through innovative technology, quickly and accurately – is at the core of the Bloomberg Terminal. Bloomberg’s enterprise solutions build on the company’s core strength: leveraging technology to allow customers to access, integrate, distribute and manage data and information across organizations more efficiently and effectively. For more information, visit Bloomberg.com/company or request a demo.

About The Atlantic
Founded in 1857 and today one of the fastest growing media platforms in the industry, The Atlantic has throughout its history championed the power of big ideas and continues to shape global debate across print, digital, events, video, and audio platforms. The Atlantic is a multimedia forum on the most critical issues of our times—from politics, global, and the economy, to technology, arts, and culture. Emerson Collective is majority owner; Atlantic Media is the minority operating owner of The Atlantic.