{"id":33111,"date":"2012-08-27T12:35:00","date_gmt":"2012-08-27T12:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.thestockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/iacs-iaci-ask-com-acquires-the-about-group-from-the-new-york-times-company\/33111\/"},"modified":"2012-08-27T12:35:00","modified_gmt":"2012-08-27T12:35:00","slug":"iacs-iaci-ask-com-acquires-the-about-group-from-the-new-york-times-company","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/iacs-iaci-ask-com-acquires-the-about-group-from-the-new-york-times-company\/33111\/","title":{"rendered":"IAC&#8217;s  (IACI) Ask.com Acquires The About Group from The New York Times Company"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\"><!--\ngoogle_ad_client = \"ca-pub-1408583772585547\";\n\/* SMW - News Links *\/\ngoogle_ad_slot = \"3490797620\";\ngoogle_ad_width = 468;\ngoogle_ad_height = 15;\n\/\/-->\n<\/script><br \/>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/show_ads.js\">\n<\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/thestockmarketwatch.com\/stock.aspx?stock=IACI\">Nasdaq: IACI<\/a>)<\/strong> announced that Ask.com has agreed to acquire 100% of The About Group from <strong>The New York Times Company (<a href=\"https:\/\/thestockmarketwatch.com\/stock.aspx?stock=NYT\">NYSE: NYT<\/a>)<\/strong> for $300 million in cash.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The About.com acquisition is completely in line with IAC&#8217;s M&amp;A strategy of acquiring, at disciplined valuations, companies that are complementary and synergistic with both our existing businesses and our areas of expertise,&#8221; said\u00a0Greg Blatt, CEO of IAC. &#8220;We are extremely excited to bring these two businesses together; About.com&#8217;s content will differentiate and greatly increase the authority of Ask.com&#8217;s offerings, while Ask&#8217;s expertise in search technology and user experience will improve the discoverability of existing content on About.com. The complementary nature of these two businesses will provide significant synergies going forward, and thus we expect that About.com will generate more profit as a part of Ask.com and IAC than it has been able to over the last few years.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>With nearly 1,000 topic sites and more than three million unique articles, About.com is one of the most comprehensive content and reference libraries on the Internet, offering expert, quality content across 90,000 topics that helps users find solutions to a wide range of daily needs. Globally, nearly 100 million unique users visit About.com on a monthly basis. Ask.com, with more than 100 million users globally of its own, is one of the leading search and Q&amp;A platforms on the internet.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This is a rare merger with true bilateral synergies,&#8221; said Joey Levin, CEO of IAC Search &amp; Applications. &#8220;On the one hand, the Ask.com search and content business has generated exceptional revenue and profit growth by marketing and distributing a quality consumer search and Q&amp;A experience, and About provides Ask with a tremendous amount of quality content to further enhance that experience and the credibility of the Ask brand. \u00a0On the other hand, About.com has created, and today continues to grow, a library of content which consumers love across a vast array of categories, and we can now market and distribute that content and the About brand through Ask and significantly increase traffic and profitability at About.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Upon closing, The About Group will join IAC&#8217;s Search and Applications reporting segment, joining Ask.com, Dictionary.com, Mindspark, nRelate, and Pronto. Darline Jean, About&#8217;s CEO, will report to Doug Leeds, Ask.com CEO.\u00a0 This segment has recorded double digit growth for the last two years, consistently outperforming expectations and driving the company&#8217;s total revenue and profits.\u00a0 The deal was signed on Sunday, August 26, 2012.<\/p>\n<p><strong>About IAC\u00a0&#8211; IACI\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>IAC (IACI) is a leading media and Internet company comprised of more than 150 brands and products, including Match.com, Ask.com, CollegeHumor, and CityGrid Media. \u00a0Focused in the areas of Search, Match, Local and Media, IACI &#8216;s family of websites is one of the largest in the world, with nearly a billion monthly visits across more than 30 countries.<\/p>\n<div class=\"nr_clear\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"nrelate_popular_2\" class=\"nrelate nrelate_popular nrelate_default nr_1col nr_text\"><\/div>\n<p>\t<!--[if IE 6]>\n\t\t<script type=\"text\/javascript\">jQuery('.nrelate_default').removeClass('nrelate_default');<\/script>\n\t<![endif]--><\/p>\n<p>\t<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n\t\/* <![CDATA[ *\/\n\t\tnRelate.domain = \"www2.thestockmarketwatch.com%2Fstock-market-news\";\n\t\tvar entity_decoded_nr_mp_url = jQuery('<span\/>').html(\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20120829002557\/http:\/\/api.nrelate.com\/mpw_wp\/0.51.2\/?tag=nrelate_popular&domain=www2.thestockmarketwatch.com%2Fstock-market-news&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww2.thestockmarketwatch.com%2Fstock-market-news%2Fiacs-iaci-ask-com-acquires-the-about-group-from-the-new-york-times-company%2F33111&nr_div_number=2&maxageposts=7200&increment=1\").text();\n\t\tnRelate.getNrelatePosts(entity_decoded_nr_mp_url);\n\t\/* ]]&gt; *\/\n\t<\/script>\n\n\n<div class=\"nr_clear\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<!-- AddThis Button BEGIN -->\n\n\n<div class=\"addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style addthis_32x32_style\">\n<a class=\"addthis_button_preferred_1\"><\/a>\n<a class=\"addthis_button_preferred_2\"><\/a>\n<a class=\"addthis_button_preferred_3\"><\/a>\n<a class=\"addthis_button_preferred_4\"><\/a>\n<a class=\"addthis_button_compact\"><\/a>\n<a class=\"addthis_counter addthis_bubble_style\"><\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">var addthis_config = {\"data_track_addressbar\":true};<\/script>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/s7.addthis.com\/js\/250\/addthis_widget.js#pubid=pennystocksfinder\"><\/script>\n<!-- AddThis Button END -->\n\n\n\n\n<p>More Posts by this author<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www2.thestockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/stocks-end-on-a-mixed-note-in-a-choppy-trading-session\/33208\">\nStocks End on a Mixed Note in a Choppy Trading Session<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www2.thestockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/gold-prices-settle-lower-silver-prices-also-drop\/33207\">\nGold Prices Settle Lower; Silver Prices also Drop<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www2.thestockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/stocks-marginally-higher-in-late-trading-3\/33205\">\nStocks Marginally Higher in Late Trading<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www2.thestockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/stocks-struggle-for-direction-14\/33202\">\nStocks Struggle for Direction<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www2.thestockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/mobile-telesystems-mbt-year-over-year-our-mobile-business-grew-by-10\/33183\">\nMobile TeleSystems &#8211; MBT &#8211; Year-over-year our mobile business grew by 10%<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www2.thestockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/hudson-city-bancorp-hcbk-to-merge-with-mt-bank-corporation-mtb\/33184\">\nHudson City Bancorp &#8211; HCBK &#8211; To Merge with M&#038;T Bank Corporation &#8211; MTB<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www2.thestockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/soufun-holdings-sfun-declares-cash-dividends-to-shareholders\/33185\">\nSouFun Holdings &#8211; SFUN &#8211; Declares Cash Dividends To Shareholders<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<hr>\n\n\n\n\n\n<table style=\"border:none;margin:0;\">\n\n\n<tr>\n\n\n<td style=\"padding:5px;vertical-align:top;\" valign=\"top\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20120829002557im_\/http:\/\/www2.thestockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/userphoto\/5.jpg\" alt=\"edliston\" width=\"125\" height=\"125\" class=\"photo\"><\/td>\n\n\n\n\n<td style=\"padding:5px;vertical-align:top;\" valign=\"top\">\n\n\n<div style=\"font-size:11pt;\"><b>Post Written By: Ed Liston <\/b><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<div style=\"font-size:10pt;\">\n\nEd Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/td>\n\n<\/tr>\n\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\"><!--\ngoogle_ad_client = \"pub-1408583772585547\";\n\/* 336x280, created 7\/9\/11 *\/\ngoogle_ad_slot = \"3552319058\";\ngoogle_ad_width = 336;\ngoogle_ad_height = 280;\n\/\/-->\n<\/script>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/show_ads.js\">\n<\/script>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\n\n<div style=\"margin:5px;margin-bottom:20px;font-size:11pt;\">&laquo; <a href=\"https:\/\/thestockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/\">Return to Stock Market News<\/a> &laquo; <\/div>\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nasdaq: IACI) announced that Ask.com has agreed to acquire 100% of The About Group from The New York Times Company 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