Morning Brew Acquires Express Checkout in Latest Creator Play

Morning Brew Inc. has acquired Express Checkout, a creator-led media brand covering the consumer packaged goods industry, according to Morning Brew CEO Robert Dippell. The deal is the publisher's latest move to bring independent creators and their audiences into its portfolio. Terms were not disclosed. The all-cash deal gives Morning Brew, which is owned by Axel Springer, 100% of Express Checkout's intellectual property, according to Dippell. Co-founders Nate Rosen and Jenna Movsowitz will join the company full time. Rosen started Express Checkout nearly four years ago as a weekly newsletter, a way to keep up with the CPG and ecommerce world. Movsowitz joined as cofounder two years ago, and the pair set out to turn the side project into a media company. It now publishes two weekly newsletters and a weekly podcast, posts short-form video, and hosts events ranging from happy hours to private dinners. The two have worked on it full-time for about a year. Express Checkout also straddles both business and consumer media, according to Dippell. “The deal makes sense because [Rosen] and [Movsowitz] fit our culture and they represent the multichannel approach that we think is so important,” Dippell said. “They do unique formats, host events, and have a distinct voice, and they will be a great addition to the Morning Brew family.” Express Checkout will remain a standalone brand that Rosen and Movsowitz continue to run. The cofounders will receive salaries, benefits, and a share of the revenue their content generates. They will also get access to Morning Brew's audience development, ad sales, account management, event production, and content strategy teams. The tie-up is the latest example of the shifting dynamic between creators and media companies, as publishers like Morning Brew and Vox Media increasingly resemble creator collectives with commercial infrastructure. As news creators like Joanna Stern and Casey Newton grow in prominence, they are turning to media companies not as employers, but as monetization engines. For creators, the set-up enables them to focus on their editorial output while benefiting from the support of an established sales apparatus. They also, in the case of Express Checkout, receive a boost of legitimacy by associating with a proven news brand. “Anyone can be a content creator,” Movsowitz said. “The truth is that Morning Brew employs a lot of capital-J journalists, and the idea of collaborating with these tangential verticals and people in newsrooms is an edge.” A methodical creator bet The deal is the second expansion this year for the group Dippell leads. In March, Axel Springer acquired commercial real estate media and events company Bisnow and placed it alongside Morning Brew in a newly formed division, Brew Media Group, with Dippell as CEO. Express Checkout also follows a template Morning Brew has used before, according to Dippell. Alongside HR Brew, the company launched People Person, a brand built around an HR professional rather than a reporter. Express Checkout will similarly complement Retail Brew's CPG coverage with a different voice and different channels. Creator-focused monetization at Morning Brew is up more than 50% year over year, and the company plans to pursue more deals like this one, according to Dippell. Plenty of media companies talk about adapting to a changing landscape, but few act on it in a sustainable way, he said. "We are choosing people to bring into our family in a way that makes sense, that is methodical, and that is disciplined,” Dippell said. The acquisition is further evidence that creators are becoming media companies in their own right, according to Ramin Beheshti, founder and CEO of Caliber. "The value isn't just in the content they produce,” Beheshti said. “It's in the engaged, loyal audiences they've built around specific voices, perspectives, and areas of expertise." Business-to-business creators in particular are a fast-growing category, according to Beheshti. Companies want more authentic content as traditional B2B marketing loses its ability to cut through, and audiences increasingly want to hear from actual experts rather than brands. Keeping Express Checkout's brand and voice separate while drawing on Morning Brew's resources is a smart model that will become more common, he said. "The traditional media companies that will win in this world are the ones that can connect creators into something bigger,” he said.

Merger & Acquisition News

Morning Brew Acquires Express Checkout in Latest Creator Play

Morning Brew's creator-focused monetization is up more than 50% year over year

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