NEW YORK – AOL Inc. said early Monday that it has closed its $315 million acquisition of The Huffington Post.
AOL will integrate The Huffington Post with its AOL Media and AOL Local properties to create the Huffington Post Media Group. As previously announced, Arianna Huffington will lead the editorial efforts of the new group as president and editor-in-chief.
“Through this acquisition, AOL is accelerating its strategy to deliver a scaled and differentiated array of premium news, analysis,and entertainment produced by thousands of writers, editors, reporters and videographers around the globe,” the company said in a brief statement.
AOL chairman and CEO Tim Armstrong had said last week that the integration planning for the combination was in its final stages.
The acquisition of the Huffington Post is part of Armstrong’s strategy to make AOL into a bigger content company, including, as highlighted in the most recent Hollywood Reporter cover story, deals with key Hollywood players.
The combined company will have a user base of 117 million unique visitors a month in the U.S. and 253 million around the world, according to comScore.
