AOL said Sunday night that it will acquire The Huffington Post for $315 million, which will place Arianna Huffington at the helm of all of AOL's media properties as editor in chief.

Boards of both companies have approved the transaction, AOL said in a press release. About $300 million will be paid by AOL in cash.

With the move, Huffington will oversee all of AOL's editorial content, including Engadget, TechCrunch, MapQuest, and other properties.

Although The Huffington Post is private, the site records 25 million unique visitors per month, generating an undisclosed number of pageviews. The site also generates 4 million comments per month, according to AOL. Combined, the AOL properties will deliver 270 million visitors per month around the world, with 117 million in the U.S., AOL claimed.

"The acquisition of The Huffington Post will create a next-generation American media company with global reach that combines content, community, and social experiences for consumers," said Tim Armstrong, chairman and chief executive of AOL, in a statement. "Together, our companies will embrace the digital future and become a digital destination that delivers unmatched experiences for both consumers and advertisers."

Huffington, who turned "HuffPo" into one of the left's most popular sites for commentary and reporting, has also cultured relationships with celebrities and political figures, who have posted their own blog entries. Participants have included President Obama, former President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, plus Natalie Portman, George Clooney, and others.

"This is truly a merger of visions and a perfect fit for us," said Huffington, in a statement. "The Huffington Post will continue on the same path we have been on for the last six years – though now at light speed – by combining with AOL. Our readers will still be able to come to The Huffington Post at the same URL, and find all the same content they've grown to love, plus a lot more – more local, more tech, more entertainment, more finance, and lots more video. We are fusing a legendary and powerful new media brand with a vibrant, innovative news organization, known for its distinctive voice, a highly engaged audience, an expertise in community-building, and a track record for demystifying the news and putting flesh and blood on the data while drawing our audience into the conversation."

Since separating from Time Warner on Dec. 9, AOL has tried to remake itself as a media company, partnering with Facebook, buying video site 5min, and finally acquiring tech blog TechCrunch last year and its ornery owner, Michael Arrington. It also bought About.me, a profile site, for an undisclosed amount.

AOL said it would host a conference call at 8 AM ET on Monday morning to provide further details.

This article, written by Mark Hachman, originally appeared on PCMag.com and is republished on Gear Live with the permission of ZDNet.