Gawker Media’s The Consumerist site is close to finalizing a sale, according to a recently published report.

The Consumerist, which was put on the auction block as part of Gawker’s overall cuts last month, is currently in “preliminary negotiations,” site editor Ben Popken told NetworkWorld.

NetworkWorld first noticed a tweet from Popken stating: “The deal closes in…” Upon further inquiry, he reports the following dialogue with Popken:

NWW: “Just saw your tweet. By ‘the deal’ do you mean ‘The Deal?’ Have you been sold? Are you close to being sold? Hope you find a nice home.”

BP: “Yep, The Deal. Preliminary negotiations, but things look good. The prospect is a good name everyone will be happy with.”

The Consumerist is averaging just under 300,000 page views a day, according to Sitemeter.

Gawker-owned Valleywag also got slashed in the same set of consolidations. It, however, is hanging onto its name and becoming a single column within Gawker.com.