AOL to buy Huffington Post for $315 million

From CNET News.com: In a shocking post-Super Bowl announcement, AOL said tonight it has agreed to pay $315 million for the Huffington Post and form a new media powerhouse by combining the content of both organizations.

The resulting new outfit, which will be headed by HuffPo co-founder Arianna Huffington, will be called Huffington Post Media Group and feature all the content from previous AOL acquisitions including Engadget and TechCrunch. By doing so, AOL seems intent on convincing the world that it is deadly serious about reclaiming its place among the leaders of the digital media world.

In a story posted at midnight Eastern time, Huffington wrote that the new media group is expected to have a reach of 117 million Americans and 270 million people worldwide.

In addition to bringing together the HuffPo, Engadget, and TechCrunch, the move will also add other AOL properties including PopEater, Mapquest, Moviefone, and others. All told, the idea is clearly that the group will offer content aimed at the widest-possible range of readers: politics junkies, techies, housewives, car nuts, movie freaks, and more. By doing so, it will be well-positioned to take on the other leaders in the mainstream online media space, such as Gawker Media.

After becoming one of the largest players in the media world in the 1990s and then falling hard, a staggering roller coaster ride that crashed after its early 2000 ill-fated 12-figure purchase of Time Warner, AOL has been trying of late to resurrect its brand. In September, it purchased Michael Arrington's well-regarded and popular TechCrunch, and now, by buying the HuffPo and its claimed 25 million unique monthly visitors, AOL is stating loud and clear that it is back and demanding to be taken seriously.

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