Microsoft Corp., Redmond, WA, will sell the entertainment pages of it MSN Sidewalk online city guides to Ticketmaster Online-City Search Inc.
In a stock deal is valued at $240 million, Microsoft will have an initial 9% stake in its onetime rival.
Ticketmaster will have a special version of CitySearch, which will be delivered either through a new MSN local channel or through the present MSN Entertainment channel on MSN.com. CitySearch will also be accessible on WebTV.
Microsoft plans to focus on other online efforts, expanding MSN Yellow Pages, MSN Buying Guides, and MSN Shopping Services.
