GARTNER GROUP SELLS TECHREPUBLIC AFTER LESS THAN ONE YEAR.

Business technology advisory firm The Gartner Group (Stamford, CT) has signed a definitive agreement to sell its stake in TechRepublic Inc. (Louisville, KY), a technology industry research firm, to CNET Networks, Inc. (San Francisco, CA) for $23 million in cash. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter. Gartner Group acquired 90% of TechRepublic in the second quarter last year for $80 million. The remaining 10% is owned by TechRepublic management and employees.

TR provides career information, ongoing technical information, advice and professional networking to CIOs (CIORepublic), IT managers (Manager-Republic), network administrators (AdminRepublic), support professionals (SupportRepublic), training providers (Training Republic) and related computing and IT professionals. The company's Web site provides personalized news, analysis and original content from industry experts and authors. TR claims 1.5 million registered members with 1.2 million subscribers to its targeted e--newsletters.

CNET Networks Media president Barry Briggs noted that TechRepublic "provides trusted advice, content and procurement services" for IT professionals through its Web site and targeted newsletters. "This audience is of extremely high value to our marketing partners by virtue of their job functions, influence, and need for highly credible, real-time information."

As part of the deal, Gartner, CNET and TechRepublic will expand some of their existing content and event--related agreements. The current deal "extends content sharing among the three sites," CNET said.

In related news, Gartner reported a first quarter loss of $53.6 million compared to a gain of $2.8 million in the same period last year. The company said most of the loss was related to the sale of TechRepublic.