[Techtaffy Newsdesk]

The New York Times Company has entered into an agreement to sell About Group, which includes the Web sites About.com, ConsumerSearch.com and CalorieCount.com, to IAC  for $300 million.   The deal was signed on Sunday, August 26, 2012. Upon closing, the About Group will join IAC’s Search and Applications reporting segment, joining Ask.com, Dictionary.com, Mindspark, nRelate, and Pronto. Darline Jean, About’s CEO, will report to Doug Leeds, Ask.com CEO.

 Greg Blatt (CEO, IAC): We expect that About.com will generate more profit as a part of Ask.com and IAC than it has been able to over the last few years.”

The all cash transaction is expected to close in the next several weeks. The company intends to use the proceeds for general corporate purposes.