HuffPost issued the following press release on Monday about its upcoming Brazilian site:
New York and Sao Paulo, September 30th, 2013 – The Huffington Post Media Group and Abril Group, one of Brazil’s largest media conglomerates, today announce their partnership and plans for the creation of the Brazilian edition of The Huffington Post, a leading source of breaking news, opinion, entertainment, community and digital information.
The announcement was jointly made by Arianna Huffington, chair, president and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post Media Group and Fabio Colletti Barbosa, CEO of Abril S.A.
"I'm delighted to welcome Brazil to the HuffPost family," said Huffington. "Brazil's rapid growth, vitality and creativity have placed the country at the center of the global conversation. During my visits to Brazil and our partners’ visits here, I have come to know and deeply respect the Abril team. And I'm particularly excited about partnering with them to use all the resources and tools at our disposal to tell the stories that need to be told and give Brazil's voices and perspectives an even greater platform for expression."
“To Abril, it will be one more important step in contributing to the dissemination of information, culture and entertainment in our country,” said Barbosa. “The Huffington Post’s position at the vanguard of digital content along with Abril’s Brazilian market knowledge made this partnership possible. This partnership allows us to accelerate our entry into new digital business models in order to reach another segment of customers in Brazil as Huffington Post has done with other partners around the world.”
"With Abril Group as our partner, The Huffington Post enters the market on extremely strong footing," said Jimmy Maymann, CEO of the Huffington Post Media Group. "This edition will not only put HuffPost in its ninth country and fifth continent, but also will land us at the center of one of the highest-growth regions in the world. Brazil has more than 100 million Internet users, the 5th largest audience in the world, and is growing fast – 7.6% annually through 2016 according to e-marketer Research.”
The Brazilian edition of the HuffPost will join the other 40 editorial websites and almost 30 titles available for tablets that Abril runs today. The company also has 6 million application downloads, and nine tablets and smartphone apps ranked in top ten.
“This partnership represents the beginning of a new era for our digital presence. Joining the Huffpost’s technology and digital strategy with our deep understanding of the Brazilian audience in all the segments we work in, we’re aiming to build an unique and very relevant digital operation.” Said Manoel Lemos, Abril’s Chief Digital Officer.
The growth of The Huffington Post’s global profile parallels that of Brazil, which will host the next World Cup and Summer Olympics. Today’s announcement precedes the upcoming launch of a German-language edition of The Huffington Post in partnership with Burda’s Tomorrow Focus. The Huffington Post's current international editions include the UK, Canada, France, Spain, Italy, Maghreb, and Japan, with more than 50,000 bloggers worldwide -- from politicians, students and celebrities to academics, parents and policy experts -- who contribute in real-time on the subjects they are most passionate about.
About The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post is a Pulitzer Prize-winning source of breaking news, features, and entertainment, as well as a highly engaged community for opinion and conversation. The Huffington Post has 46 million monthly U.S. unique visitors and 78 million monthly global unique visitors (comScore, August 2013) posting over eight million comments each month. The site has over 50,000 bloggers -- from politicians, students and celebrities to academics, parents and policy experts -- who contribute in real-time on the subjects they are most passionate about. The Huffington Post has editions in the UK, Canada, France, Spain, Italy, Japan and Maghreb.About Abril Group
Abril Group is one of the largest and most influential communication and education groups in Latin America. Founded in 1950, the group comprises Abril S.A., the company responsible for Media and Printing business, DGB, the Logistics & Distribution holding, and Abril Educação, which began operating independently from Abril S.A. in early 2010, following a corporate restructuring process. The group also includes the Victor Civita Foundation, created in 1985 with the purpose of improving basic education in Brazil. Abril provides information, culture, education, and entertainment to virtually all audience segments, operating in an integrated manner throughout several different media channels.