This is very interesting, if only because I have been reading The Inquirer and its progeny

grand-daddy The Register for years now, and both of them are the tabloid-versions of tech news.

Anyway,the news: European B2B company VNU has bought the Inquirer for an undisclosed sum. Inquirer founder Mike Magee will retain the editor’s chair but will hand over advertising and administrative duties for the site.

Magee helped pioneer a tabloid approach to tech publishing when he co-founded IT news service the Register in 1994. But a split with fellow founder John Lettice led to his departure from that website in 2001.

The deal comes after VNU came to an agreement last year with U.S. gadget website Gizmodo.com to publish localised editions across seven countries in Europe.

Some more details in the release here.