Gawker Media has agreed to sell a minority stake to an investment company, Columbus Nova Technology Partners, in an effort to bolster its books for a $100 million invasion-of-privacy lawsuit brought by professional wrestler Hulk Hogan.

A spokesman for Gawker confirmed the deal but would not disclose the size of the investment or the stake Columbus Nova will take, citing the impending trial in March as a reason to keep financial terms confidential.

Finalizing the transaction will depend on the outcome of an extraordinary general meeting of closely-held Gawker’s shareholders on Thursday, in which they will vote on creating a Series B preferred share class as part of the investment.

Founded in 2002, Gawker is a veteran of the new media space, and it has grown into a network of seven sites focusing on subjects including cars, technology, sports and feminism. It has so far remained entirely self-financed with Founder and Chief Executive Nick Denton controlling almost all of the company.

Columbus Nova is the U.S. investment arm of the Renova Group, a Russian conglomerate owned by billionaire tycoon Viktor Vekselberg. Columbus Nova will receive a seat on Gawker’s board as part of its investment.

Mr. Denton has said for months that legal costs stemming from Mr. Hogan’s suit had triggered the need for outside investment. But he has said that many investors had opted to remain on the sidelines until the trial was resolved.

The company has been in a turbulent period since last summer after posting a controversial story outing a gay executive. Amid a wave of public backlash, Mr. Denton had the story taken down, which led to the resignation of two top editors.

In November, Gawker Media said it would reorient its flagship site Gawker.com to focus on political news and shift away from gossip.

Last summer, Gawker secured an $8 million loan from Silicon Valley Bank to help finance the expansion and relocation of its headquarters to a 40,000-square-foot office in Manhattan’s flatiron district. The deal also included an open credit line of an additional $7.5 million.

In July, Gawker said it had turned an operating profit of $6.5 million in 2014 on revenue of $44.3 million.

Write to Lukas I. Alpert at lukas.alpert@wsj.com