CBS Corp (NYSE: CBS) announced an agreement this morning to acquire CNET Networks (NASDAQ: CNET).The deal "will make CBS one of the ten most popular companies in the United States onthe Internet with a combined 54 million unique visitors per month", according to a press release by CBS Corp this morning.
The cash tender offer by CBS is valued at $1.8 billion (US) or $11.50 per share.
CBS is best known as the parent company of CBS Television but also owns numerous other TV networks and other advertising outlets including radio station, billboards, as well as book publisher Simon and Schuster. Also in the CBS portfolio is last.fm, a 'music community' that has been growing rapidly in popularity in the past year.
CNET is best known as the first 'large' technology news website on the Internet and owns the domain names news.com and tv.com. CNET publishes tech news, commentary, syndicated product reviews and more across it's websites, which include CNET.com, ZDNet.com, Gamespot.com, Search.com, TechRepublic.com, mp3.com and others. CNET first reported the news here then Larry Dignan over at ZDNet chimed in here: "We've been bought!".
CNET stock rallied on the news Thursday morning, (up over 40 per cent in early morning trading), while CBS was mostly unchanged.
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