A few weeks ago we covered the news on the acquisition of the Huffington Post by AOL, and today AOL CEO Tim Armstrong confirmed that the acquisition is final. The deal marks a new chapter in mainstream and digital publishing, as more industry consolidation takes place.  The acquisition is one of the most notable in recent months, with the Huffington Post as the latest in a string of media buys.

What is interesting is that despite word of layoffs at AOL following the merger of the two companies, the Huffington post hired six high-profile journalists, including Michael Calderone (Yahoo News), Trymaine Lee (New York Times), Michael McAuliffe (New York Daily News), and Jon Ward (The Daily) will be joining future graduates Bonnie Kavoussi and Unigo founding editor Lucas Kavner as entertainment reporter to bring fresh ideas in the news office.

It is not very clear in which structures will the layoffs take place, as officials declined any comments. Yet, Arianna Huffington mentioned a week ago that departments like Engadget and TechCrunch would be left alone.

AOL expressed its intention of making some prominent acquisitions in the next period and the company is seconding words with deeds. The latest acquisitions of AOL have been referred to as ‘improving AOL’s plumbing’ by Armstrong.

Last week AOL announced its purchase of Outside.In, the hyperlocal content and advertising platform for $10 million. AOL sees a great deal of opportunity in location-based services, leveraging its media distribution channels as new marketing threads.  Outside.In has had a high profile, thanks to partnerships with CNN, for example. CNN acquired a share of Outside.in as part of a $7 million series B funding round for the Outside.In. With this partnership, CNN will begin to feature feeds from Outside.in on its website starting early next year.

[image credit AllThingsD]