AOL buys TechCrunch

Last time AOL bought a blog network (Weblogs Inc, owner of Engadget) was like 5 years ago. Today, they bought another one — the TechCrunch Network.

Announced today at TC Disrupt (a conference organized by TC itself), the acquisition cost was not revealed but estimates point to between $25PHP 1,467INR 2,119EUR 24CNY 182 million to $40PHP 2,347INR 3,390EUR 38CNY 291 million.

This makes AOL the owner of the biggest blog network to date with Engadget and TechCrunch on its helm. Smaller sites under the TC network, MobileCrunch & CrunchGear, might not survive the acquisition if we base it on what happened to similar blogs in the Weblogs Inc. sale years ago.

Founded by Michael Arrington, TechCrunch operates a global network of dedicated properties from Europe to Japan, as well as vertically-oriented websites, including MobileCrunch, CrunchGear, TechCrunchIT, GreenTech, TechCrunchTV and CrunchBase. The TechMeme Leaderboard ranks TechCrunch as the No. 1 source of breaking tech news online, followed by AOL’s Engadget.*

TechCrunch makes about $6.5PHP 381INR 551EUR 6CNY 47 to $10PHP 587INR 847EUR 10CNY 73 million a year from advertising and events/conferences.