NEW YORK - The New York Times Co. is buying About.com, an online consumer information company, for $410 million in cash from special-interest magazine publisher Primedia Inc., the companies announced Thursday. It was the latest acquisition of an online company in recent months by a newspaper publisher.
The deal gives the Times a bigger footprint in the online world, where it has moved aggressively in recent years to expand its offerings and revenues from advertising. About.com has a network of Web sites that are maintained by about 500 experts on various topics including sports, personal finance, food and hobbies.
Other newspaper publishers have also bought online companies recently, including Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal, which last fall acquired MarketWatch Inc., an online financial publisher, for about $519 million in cash in a move to broaden its reach online. In December, The Washington Post Co. acquired the popular online magazine Slate from Microsoft Corp.
The online site for the Journal, WSJ.com, is the largest paid subscription site on the Web.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=509&e=11&u=/ap/new_york_times_about_com
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