AOL is buying news and analysis website, The Huffington Post. The U.S. global Internet services and media company will pay a total of $315 million for the acquisition. The transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to close in the late first- or early second-quarter 2011.

The new group will have a combined base of 117 million visitors a month in the U.S. and 270 million globally. As part of the transaction, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Huffington Post, Arianna Huffington, will be president and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post Media Group, which will include all Huffington Post and AOL contents.

Click here for the release from The Huffington Post.