NYT Co. Closes About.com Acquisition

By: E&P Staff The New York Times Co. completed its acquisition of About.com today, according to a staff memo from Janet Robinson, the Times Co.'s president at chief executive officer, and Martin Nisenholtz, the company's senior vice president for digital operations.

"This is an important and exciting moment for us, as we take another significant step in growing our Company," the two wrote.

The memo highlighted three major new business opportunities among the "almost endless list of exciting opportunities" the combination presents: First, more cross-marketing initiatives between print and digital properties; second, exploitation of About's e-commerce relationships through Times Co. sites; and, third, using print and broadcast properties to boost About's local presence.

The About acquisition, the memo said, makes the Times Co. the 12th largest entity on the Web by traffic.