Axel Springers Politico plans U.S., Europe expansion – CEO

Axel Springer's Politico plans U.S., Europe expansion - CEO

BERLIN (Reuters) – Politico plans to expand in its home market of the United States as well as Europe as part of a five-year plan focusing more on regional policy-making centres, the chief executive of the news website said in comments seen by Reuters on Wednesday.

CEO Goli Sheikholeslami said that in the U.S., more policy-making was happening at the state level as a result of political turmoil and polarisation in Washington, in comments to an internal podcast of its parent company, German publisher Axel Springer.

“And so, we see the opportunity to expand what we do to other geographies within the United States,” Sheikholeslami said, adding that the first step would be focusing on California and New York before looking at potential states after that.

In Europe, where Politico has a dominant position in Brussels with European Union coverage, the CEO said Politico also saw opportunities to expand in the UK, France and Germany, as well as other European markets.

“Our big focus next year will be an expansion into the UK,” she said, adding: “It is about expanding and connecting more and more power centres.”

(Reporting by Klaus Lauer, Writing by Rachel More, Editing by Miranda Murray)