AOL Keeps Busy, Acquires The Huffington Post

Media giant AOL (News - Alert) on Monday agreed to acquire The Huffington Post (News - Alert), a left-leaning online news service, for approximately $315 million, the two outfits announced on Monday. Details of the acquisition popped up online just hours after AOL chief executive Tim Armstrong and Arianna Huffington, The Huffington Post's co-founder and editor-in-chief, came to an accord while watching the Super Bowl at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

As part of the deal, Huffington will be named president and editor-in-chief of the newly-created Huffington Post Media Group, which will oversee all of AOL's news content. The sites under Huffington's control will include local news outlet Patch, Engadget, AOL Music and the recently-acquired TechCrunch, which AOL purchased just last year for $25 million.

For AOL, the deal will allow it to drastically expand its audience and rebuild the revenue that it continues to hemorrhage though its dial-up service.

Although The Huffington Post was only launched 6 years ago, the liberal blogging site already attracts 26 million unique visitors each month, according to CNN. Much of the Post's success stems from its ability to foster an interactive experience for its readers. Visitors to the site often post thousands of comments and share articles with friends through numerous social media outlets.

The Huffington Post had its first profitable year in 2010, and is expected to generate about $60 million in revenue this year, company executives told the New York Times. By adding the Post's readership, AOL should be able to increase its advertising revenue.

“This is a statement that the company is making investments, and in this case a bold investment, that fits right into our strategy,” Armstrong said on Sunday. “I think this is going to be a situation where 1 plus 1 equals 11.”

For the liberal blogging outfit, the agreement will allow it to expand its reach into other spaces. Huffington told CNN that the company will now be able to "do so much more in the living space especially for women…and more original reporting telling the stories of our time and putting flesh and blood on the economic data."

The deal has been approved by both companies' board of directors and is expected to close early in the second quarter.

Beecher Tuttle is a TMCnet contributor. He has extensive experience writing and editing for print publications and online news websites. He has specialized in a variety of industries, including health care technology, politics and education. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.

Edited by Jennifer Russell