Santa Monica-based digital media company My Code has acquired a majority ownership interest in Impremedia, a leading Hispanic news and information company.
With the acquisition, My Code becomes the owner of the most widely read Spanish-language daily newspapers and digital media outlets in the U.S. They include La Opinión in Los Angeles, the nation’s leading Spanish-language daily newspaper; El Diario, the oldest Spanish-speaking daily in the United States in New York; La Raza in Chicago; and La Opinión de la Bahía in San Francisco along with an extensive portfolio of digital media outlets and lifestyle brands that reach 35 million users monthly.
Originally founded as H Code in 2015, My Code relaunched in early 2022 following the addition of two new entities, A Code and B Code, which focus on the Asian-Pacific Islander and Black audiences. The digital marketing company, which connects brands with minority-focused web publishers, also recently launched W Code, which focuses on multicultural female audiences.
Iván Adaime, chief executive of Impremedia, will continue to lead Impremedia’s media brands under the new owners.
Impremedia’s employees have been asked to continue with the company as My Code targets a digital expansion.
“We are in awe of what Iván Adaime and generations of dedicated team members have built, and we are honored and excited to help in being stewards of these brands as we work together to expand their reach and deepen their impact with current and future generations,” said Parker Morse, chief executive and founder of My Code, in a statement. “Combining Impremedia’s iconic media properties, burgeoning digital brands and significant daily role in the lives of the Hispanic community with My Code’s platform, resources and enormous audiences, will supercharge the ability to connect, inform, support and engage in this vital space.”
Added Adaime: “The scale at which My Code has been able to connect with Hispanic audiences across different segments is an impressive feat in the current media landscape, especially as the industry continues to adapt to the dynamically shifting data landscape. The combination of Impremedia and My Code deepens our relationship with the Hispanic community and amplifies our impact through the community. Our decision to join with My Code will allow us to deliver even greater value to our audiences and unlock more opportunities to engage with them in the digital space.”
Impremedia was founded in 2003 by John Paton, an entrepreneur who later became the chief executive of Digital First Media, the newspaper chain controlled by the hedge fund Alden Global Capital, and is today chairman of the London-based newspaper The Independent. Paton and his partners bought El Diario and other titles to build a Hispanic-news conglomerate. Impremedia was acquired by a subsidiary of the Argentine newspaper La Nación in 2012.
Media executive Roaldo Moran, who launched L.A. Times en Español, views the Impremedia buyout by a digital company as significant.
“Print, as it is, is having its challenges but digital is growing,” Moran said. “Print is no longer as appealing to the community as digital. … Latinos are acculturating faster than before.”
Moran added that the Hispanic market continues to grow and provide opportunities.
