News Corp. / IGN Entertainment

News Corp. said on Thursday it would acquire Internet video game company IGN Entertainment Inc. for about $650 million as it expands into online entertainment and media platforms.

The acquisition comes on the heels of News Corp.'s agreement to purchase Intermix, owner of the popular MySpace.com social networking Web site in July.

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp said the new deals, along with its existing sites, would increase its total Web traffic to 70 million unique monthly users.

The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter. In July, IGN filed for a U.S. initial public offering of as much as $200 million in common shares. In 2004, IGN Entertainment lost $14.3 million on sales of $42.9 million, mostly derived from advertising.

(c) Reuters