CNN is rumoured to be in negotiations to buy the social media news service, Mashable. According to Reuters blogger Felix Salmon, CNN is set to pay more than $200m (£128m) for Mashable.
Mashable stories are currently used in syndication on CNN.com. The site also syndicates some of its content to other publications including ABC News, Metro, Yahoo! News and USA today.
Reuters’ Felix Salmon reported the news of CNN’s apparent negotiations with Mashable on Sunday night at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas. Salmon said the deal could be announced as early as today.
The New York Times confirmed the two companies were in advanced talks on Monday but quoted sources that said the negotiations were not complete.
The US-based site was founded in 2005 by Pete Cashmore, 21 at the time. Mashable has become one of the largest independent news sources on social media and technology, now boasting 20 million unique visitors per month and 4 million social media followers according to its website.
CNN has made moves previously to suggest the company is attempting to operate more effectively in the social media era. Just last year CNN bought Zite, a news application for the iPad aimed at giving users a personalized magazine experience over the iPad and iPhone.
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