CBS buys CNet for $1.8 bln

NEW YORK, May 15 (Xinhua) -- Media company CBS Corp. announced Thursday that it is buying CNet Networks Inc., an online news and information provider for 1.8 billion U.S. dollars.

The price of 11.50 dollars per share represents a massive premium of 45 percent over CNet's closing stock price on Wednesday.

"Our idea is to have our content wherever, whenever you can get it, and adding CNet just makes that happen faster," said CBS's CEO Leslie Moonves, who is trying to expand the company's reach on the Internet.

CNet is known for technology reviews, news and advice but has also expanded into entertainment areas with a stable of sites that includes ZDNet, GameSpot.com, TV.com, mp3.com. It also owns the highly valuable Internet domain name News.com.