IAC/InteractiveCorp purchases About.com for 300 million
Aug 27, 2012 (Menafn - St. Louis Post-Dispatch - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --IAC/InterActiveCorp, the firm overseeing Match.com, Ask.com, Dictionary.com, the Daily Beast and other online sites, has agreed to a cash transaction to purchase About.com from The New York Times.
The Times, Associated Press and other sources pegged the purchase price at 300 million.
About.com operates as an online source for consumer tips, city guides, health tips and other information. IAC intends to integrate the site with Ask.com -- its question and answer format.
"The About.com acquisition is completely in line with IAC's M&A strategy of acquiring, at disciplined valuations, companies that are complementary and synergistic with both our existing businesses and our areas of expertise," IAC chief executive Greg Blatt said in a statement.
Media mogul Barry Diller is the chairman and senior executive of er of IAC.
News of the transaction, announced Sunday night, ends speculation that a local online content provider was in play to to repurchase the About.com site for 270 million.
The Times had originally bought About.com from Answers.com, headquartered in the University City Loop, for 410 million in 2005.
Answers.com bills itself as "the industry's top destination for Q&A content." It competes with Ask.com.
The site claims it has supplied nearly 14 billion answers since its inception in 1998.
The questions posed and answered Monday include:
"What common household items can be used as a sled?"
(answer:trash bags)(answer:cardboard)(answer:ironing boards)(answer:trash can lids)(answer:large bowls)(answer:shower curtains and shovels.)
and
"Is online dating dangerous?"
(answer:"It can be)(answer:so you need to take precautions...")
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