Classified Ventures, LLC was a Chicago-based digital media company. The company was established to capitalize on the revenue growth opportunities in the online classified advertising categories of automotive and rentals. It was a joint venture among six major newspaper publishers: Central Newspapers, A. H. Belo, Gannett Company, The McClatchy Company, Tribune Company, and Graham Holdings Company[1] It was the owner and operator of two leading national online brands: Apartments.com and Cars.com.
In April 2014, Apartments.com and its associated sites were sold to CoStar Group for $585 million.[2][3] On August 5, 2014, Gannett announced that it would buy out the other owners' 72% combined stake in Classified Ventures for $1.8 billion,[4][5]