New York Times closes on $300 million sale of About Group

The New York Times has completed its $300 million sale of The About Group to Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp. IAC, which operates online businesses including Newsweek, The Daily Beast and dating site Match.com, announced the deal last month. About.com provides information on a wide variety of topics and also operates ConsumerSearch.com and Calorie-Count.com. The site's content is written by paid experts known as guides. The New York Times said Monday that it anticipates receiving about $290 million from the sale and plans to use those funds for general corporate purposes. IAC says The About Group will become part of its search and applications segment.