Patch Parent Company to Buy Huffington Post for $315 Million

AOL, the company that owns Patch, announced Monday it has acquired The Huffington Post in a $315 million deal. Arianna Huffington will become president and editor in chief of The Huffington Post Media Group. She will oversee all AOL content, including Patch, TechCrunch, Moviefone, Engadget, MapQuest, Black Voices, PopEater, AOL Music, AOL Latino, AutoBlog and StyleList.

Pending regulatory approvals, the deal is expected to be final in late March or early April, AOL reported in a news release early Monday.

"The Huffington Post and AOL will occupy a unique place in the future of the Internet," AOL CEO Tim Armstrong said. "We believe in brands, quality journalism and the positive role of communities in the world. The Huffington Post shares our values. The combination of the two companies will create the premier global and local media company on the Internet."

On her site Monday, Huffington wrote that the respective parties signed the agreement at Sunday's Super Bowl.

"AOL's Patch.com covers 800 towns across America, providing an incredible infrastructure for citizen journalism in time for the 2012 election, and a focus on community and local solutions that have been an integral part of HuffPost's DNA," Huffington wrote in the blog Monday.

"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," she wrote. "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.''

For more information:

• Advertising Age reports on the purchase and specifically addresses Patch: "AOL Bets $315 Million on Arianna, Buys Huffington Post to Build 'New American Media Company' "
• The New York Times reports on the acquisition and specifically addresses Patch: "Betting on News, AOL is Buying The Huffington Post"