American news website and content aggregator The Huffington Post will be acquired by AOL for $315 million US dollars, in a deal expected to close in the coming months. Huffington Post co-founder Arianna Huffington will become president and editor-in-chief of a new Huffington Post Media Group, which will include The Huffington Post and other AOL content properties, including recently acquired TechCrunch, gadget blog Endadget, and micro-local news service Patch.
Arianna Huffington made the announcement in an article published early this morning, and outlines some of the “merger of visions” that the acquisition would entail.
“Add all that [AOL’s array of content platforms] to what HuffPost is doing with social, community, mobile, as well as our commitment to innovative original reporting and beyond-left-and-right commentary, and the blending will have a multiplier effect. Or, as Tim [Tim Armstrong, AOL Chairman and CEO] and I have been saying over the last couple of weeks: 1 + 1 = 11.
“Far from changing our editorial approach, our culture, or our mission, this moment will be for HuffPost like stepping off a fast-moving train and onto a supersonic jet. We’re still traveling toward the same destination, with the same people at the wheel, and with the same goals, but we’re now going to get there much, much faster.”
Watch Arianna Huffington and Tim Armstrong, AOL CEO, discuss the merger:
The Huffington Post is probably one of AOL’s most intelligent acquisitions in recent times in my opinion. Is their vision of a resurgent media empire finally coming to fruition?