Ripple6 will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Gannett, and will continue to operate its social networks, while working with other marketers and web publishers, including Procter & Gamble, Meredith and General Mills.
As part of the transaction, the 10% share of Ripple6 owned by Chris Saridakis, senior vice-president and chief digital officer of Gannett, was bought out completely by Gannett. He did not participate in the sale negotiations.
Ripple6, based out of New York, provides white label social networks for consumer brands to engage with customers, and also provide analytical reports.
Since August Ripple6 has powered Gannett's MomsLikeMe.com sites, which recently rolled out in 80 local markets across the US, with more than 1m views each month.
Craig Dubow, Gannett CEO, said: "From the moment we began working with Ripple6, we realised we had found a company that is richly innovative and can change the way social media is offered and monetised online."
Sang Kim, Ripple6 CEO, said: "We're excited, because we get the best of both worlds here. We'll take advantage of the synergy and resources of our new parent, yet we'll maintain the independence that helps generate innovative solutions for marketers and publishers."
Gannett is in the process of cutting 10% of its staff from its 80-plus local daily newspapers, on top of an earlier 10% staff reduction announced in August.
Dubow has opted to cut his pay by 17% to help the company weather the decline in ad revenues.
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