New York Times to Sell About.com for $270M

by Christopher Freeburn | August 9, 2012 10:55 am

The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT[1]) is on the verge of selling an underperforming online asset[2].

News that the company was discussing the sale of About.com caused shares of the New York Times to rise more than 6% in Wednesday trading.

Unnamed sources told AllThingsD that Answers.com has signed a letter of intent to acquire About.com for $270 million.

That would be a significant loss for the Times, considering that the company paid $410 million for About.com just seven years ago. Last quarter, the website’s revenue dropped about 9% to $25.4, forcing the Times to write down its value by $195 million.

Last month, the Times reported that its second-quarter revenue[3] edged up less than 1% to $515.2 million and posted a loss of $88.1 million for the quarter, largely attributed to the write down of About.com.

New York Times Company shares rose about 1% in Thursday morning trading.

Source URL: http://investorplace.com/2012/08/new-york-times-to-sell-about-com-for-270m/
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