By Ryan Nakashima
The New York Times is selling its troubled website About.com for US$270 million.
The site, which provides basic information on a wide variety of topics, is being sold to St Louis-based Answers.com, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Because the deal is still awaiting financing, the person was not authorised to speak publicly and requested anonymity.
The Times confirmed discussions of a sale but said no definitive agreement has been reached.
About.com caused the Times to record a US$195 million write-down in the April-June quarter, pushing the company to a loss despite a revenue gain.
The Times purchased About.com in 2005 for roughly US$410 million but the site has suffered in the last year because of a change in the way Google handles search results.
AP