WebMediaBrands has inked a deal to sell its Internet.com unit to online vertical marketing firm QuinStreet.
The deal will see privately held QuinStreet paying $18 million in cash for Internet.com, which publishes IT- and developer-focused sites including InternetNews.com, Datamation, Linux Planet, and others.
Following the sale, WebMediaBrands (NASDAQ: WEBM) will continue to operate its other business lines, which include Mediabistro.com and Graphics.com, as well as the two sites’ related job boards, online tutorials and tradeshows.
The deal is subject to shareholder approval and other customary closing conditions.
“We believe that this transaction will be beneficial to WebMediaBrands and its stockholders as it will significantly improve our balance sheet and at the same time allow us to focus on growing B-to-B communities in the non-tech space,” WebMediaBrands CEO Alan Meckler said in a statement.
Internet.com began as a unit of Mecklermedia, the parent of the Internet World conference and magazine. In 1998, Penton Media acquired Mecklermedia’s print and tradeshow business, while Meckler bought back Mecklermedia’s online properties to become the publicly traded Internet.com.
In 2001, Internet.com changed its corporate name to INT Media Group, while retaining Internet.com as a separate brand name for its network of IT and developer sites. INT Media Group has since changed names to Jupitermedia — following the 2002 purchase of Jupiter Research — and then to WebMediaBrands after the sale of Jupiter Research and JupiterImages divisions in 2006 and early 2009, respectively.
