Pete Cashmore Denies CNN Acquisition Rumor To Mashable Staff

The hot SXSW rumor is that CNN is looking to acquire Mashable for some $200 million. But right now it’s just that: a rumor. In fact we just heard from a trusted Mashable staffer that founder and CEO Pete Cashmore is denying the reports to senior level Mashable editors. But that might not mean anything. Mike and Heather gave us TCers the same line up until Tim Armstrong showed up at Disrupt.

The initial rumor came from Reuters blogger Felix Salmon and later confirmed by the NYT’s Brian Stelter. The announcement is reportedly coming tomorrow, March 13th.

If true, the move would dramatically strength CNN’s presence in the blogging space. CNN.com is one of the most popular go-to news sites in the States and Mashable, with its massive network of partner sites, would greatly extend CNN’s reach.

We also heard that Mashable’s Executive Editor, Adam Ostrow, inadvertently “liked” the original Reuters report — although I’m sure his potential payday likely did the clicking.