AOL Nabs HuffPo

AOL ACQUIRES HUFFPO: Guess content is king once more. AOL has acquired the Huffington Post, which began in 2005 with just a $1 million investment and has grown to attract some 25 million visitors every month, for $315 million, $300 million in cash and the rest in stock. It’s the company’s largest acquisition since it separated from Time Warner in 2009. Arianna Huffington will take control of AOL’s editorial content as President and Editor in Chief of a newly created Huffington Post Media Group, which will give her oversight of media entries like MapQuest and Moviefone. The deal has the potential to create an enterprise that could reach more than 100 million visitors in the U.S. each month. HuffPo execs said the web site will generate $60 million in revenue this year, compared with $31 million last year. Said AOL chief exec Tim Armstrong: “We are absolutely passionate, big believers in the future of the Internet, big believers in the future of content.” At least someone is. (2/7a)