Blucora shells out $45M for explainer site HowStuffWorks

Is there a 400 pound lobster out there? Doubtful, but that’s one of the questions posed on explainer site HowStuffWorks, which also features absorbing page-view sponges like Top 10 Family Guard Dogs.

Here’s another question: How much is HowStuffWorks worth today?

The answer is apparently $45 million, the sum Blucora paid to Discovery Communications for the website in an all-cash deal announced this morning.

Discovery suffered a huge loss on the content farm, which it purchased for $250 million in 2007.

HowStuffWorks has a wide reach, racking up 38 million unique visitors and 200 million page views per month, according to the company. Discovery will partner with Blucora on native advertising efforts for HowStuffWorks and will continue to “have access” to HowStuffWorks’ video content, according to a company statement — presumably that means Discovery will continue to sell ad placements against those videos.

Founded in 1996, Blucora operates the Infospace search engines. It also offers tax preparation services through TaxAct (which it acquired for $287 million in 2012) and has an e-commerce presence through Monoprice (it bought the electronics retailer for $180 million last year).

After a healthy year, Blucora boasts a $812 million market cap. Its stock has risen 32 percent over the past 12 months.