publishing group

Ask.com, the fourth-ranked search engine, has completed its acquisition of Lexico Publishing Group, which owns Dictionary.com, Thesaurus.com, and Reference.com.

Ask.com, a wholly owned subsidiary of InterActiveCorp, had announced the all-cash deal in mid-May.

Financial terms of the deal, which closed Thursday, were not released. Lexico, ...

Ask.com plans to buy Lexico Publishing Group, the company behind Dictionary.com, Thesaurus.com and Reference.com, for an undisclosed sum.

The fourth largest search engine briefed a few reporters on its plans such as News.com’s Stephen Shankland.

The deal is expected to be officially announced Thursday.

Ask.com, the fourth-ranked search engine, plans to increase its heft through an agreement to acquire Lexico Publishing Group, which operates the Dictionary.com, Thesaurus.com, and Reference.com Web sites.

Ask.com didn't release terms of the acquisition, but Lexico is "highly profitable, with high double-digit growth for ...