NEWS: CBS-CNET: CBS Will Own TV.com, Radio.com, MP3.com and News.com

Ed: Hot conversation among publications - it's about their own market value.

CBS to buy CNET Networks

Posted by Margaret Kane

CBS has agreed to acquire CNET Networks in a deal valued at $1.8 billion, the companies said Thursday.

The purchase price comes to $11.50 per share, representing a 44 percent premium over Wednesday's closing price of $7.95.

The acquisition will make CBS one of the 10 most popular Internet companies in the United States, with a combined 54 million unique users per month, and about 200 million users worldwide, the companies said.

The deal is expected to close in the third quarter. CNET's board has unanimously approved the deal, the company said.

Based in San Francisco, CNET Networks-owned sites include CNET, ZDNet, GameSpot, TV.com, MP3.com, CNET News.com, UrbanBaby, CHOW, Search.com, BNET, MySimon, and TechRepublic.

CNET Networks, News.com's publisher, recently announced a partnership with Yahoo to provide technology news and reviews to the search company. The companies also agreed to allow Yahoo to sell display ads on CNET properties and for CNET to sell ads alongside the content it provides on Yahoo sites.

CNET has been involved in a fight over control of its board with Jana Partners.

CBS Buying CNET For $1.8 Billion; CBS Predicts $1 Billion Interactive Revenues By 2010

from Silicon Alley Insider by Peter Kafka

CBS will pay $11.50 a share for CNET. The all-cash deal represents a premium of 44% above the $7.95 CNET closed at yesterday. Will it be enough to satisfy JANA et al?...

CBS to Buy CNET Networks for $1.8 Billion

from PC World: Latest Technology News

CBS has agreed to pay US$1.8 billion in cash for online media company CNET Networks in a deal that has the backing of both...

CBS-CNET: CBS Will Own TV.com, Radio.com, MP3.com and News.com

from paidContent.org by Staci D. Kramer

CNET (NSDQ: CNET) Networks comes with a lot of assets, among them some of the best domains you couldn't buy without acquiring a company. When the dust settles, CBS (NYSE: CBS) will ownRadio.com, now just a way to search for online radio stations but sure to be worked in with CBS Radio; TV.com, which has been revamped but can be much more; News.com, which is now the home of CNET News; and MP3.com, which likely will wind up linked with Last.FM. 

CBS-CNET: Our Coverage In Links

from paidContent.org by David Kaplan - CBS Corp.'s (NYSE: CBS) purchase of CNET (NSDQ: CNET) Networks for $1.8 billion comes amid a lot of change and drama at both companies from CNET's draw-out proxy fight with the consortium led by hedge fund Jana Partners to CBS with its slipping stock price and interactive push. The links below cover the recent history and today's news, including our breaking news of the deal itself by Joseph Weisenthal, an exclusive interview with CBS CEO Les Moonves by Staci D. Kramer andinitial analysis by Rafat Ali; we also have live blogging of the conference call heralding the acquisition.

-- BREAKING: CBS Acquiring CNET For $1.8 Billion; 44.6 Percent Premium 
-- CBS-CNET: Interview: Leslie Moonves, CEO, CBS: 'Right Opportunity, Right Time, Right Price' 
-- First Take: CNET: The Brand Everyone Wanted To Buy, But Didn't Really 
-- Earnings: CBS Q1 Revs Flat; Net Income Up 14 Percent 
-- CNET Q1 Revs Up 3 Percent, But Shy Of Estimates; Yahoo Deal: $100 Million In Revs Over Three Years 
-- CBS Interactive's Quincy Smith On Re-Org: 'More CBS Corp. Firepower Focused On Interactive' 
-- CBS Interactive Reorganizes Under Pressure To Show Results 
-- CBS Interactive Opening Menlo Park Office; Big Acquisition Needed? 
-- CNET's Proxy Fight Update: Court Upholds Jana's Right To Nominate Board 
-- Updated: Jana Offers CNET Plan: Slams Management; Wants More Social Media; Settlement Rejected 
-- Update: CBS And CNN In Talks—Again—To Combine News Operations: Report; CBS Denies 
-- Updated: CBS Interactive Trims Staff, Cuts At CBS.com, CBSNews.com

CBS to buy CNet for $1.75 billion

from Wired Top Stories by Associated Press

CBS says it's buying CNet Networks Inc. for about $1.75 billion. That's a 45 percent premium above the closing price of $7.95 for the online news and entertainment site.

CBS Agrees to Buy CNET

from WSJ.com: What's News US - CBS has agreed to buy online news provider CNET Networks for about $1.8 billion, just as CNET's battle with dissident shareholders was heating up.

DealBook: CBS to Pay $1.8 Billion for CNET Networks

from NYT - Technology - The deal for CNET is CBS’s biggest online acquisition since it hired Quincy Smith, a former media and technology investment banker, to lead its interactive unit in late 2006.

CBS agrees to buy CNet for $1.75 billion

from San Jose Mercury News via Yahoo! News - CBS Corp. agreed to buy online technology news and entertainment company CNet Networks Inc. for about $1.

CBS: Now Broadcasting in Web 1.0

from AllThingsDigital -- WSJ by John Paczkowski

“The Stars’ Address is CBS.” And now it’s CNET Networks’ as well. CBS this morning said it agreed to buy the Internet news and entertainment company for $1.8-billion in cash. The deal values CNET at about $11.50 per share — a 44.6% premium to Wednesday’s closing price of $7.95. That’s $.50 more than the $11 Jana Partners, the investment management firm plotting a proxy fight for control of the company’s board, had hoped to squeeze out of CNet, so presumably even dissident investors are glad to see CBS stepping in here.