IAC Offers $300 Million For About.com

Just when I thought that Answers.com was going to acquire About.com, IAC has come out from left field and made an offer that is over $300 million.  This number is higher than the $270 million offer that The New York Times made for the website.

Answers.com is owned by private equity companies Summit Partners and TA Associates.  According to AllThingsD, Answers.com had signed a letter of intent to buy About.com for $270 million.

Answers.com President Peter Horan was previously the head of About.com.  About.com has over 900 “topic sites,” which features articles across a range of topics like parenting, cooking, and how-to guides.

About.com used to be doing very well in terms of traffic, but it plummeted after Google made changes to their search algorithm.

As a result, The New York Times wrote down the value by around $195 million.  The New York Times acquired About.com for $410 million in 2005.  IAC has plans to combine About.com with Ask.com.