SiliconBeat

PlanetOut, the online media company serving the lesbian and gay community through its Web sites Gay.com and PlanetOut.com, has a new majority shareholders, based on a filing made today by New York investors Austin Marxe and David Greenhouse. They are the controlling principals of AWM Investment, two of whose funds now control 1.03 million shares, or 25.2 percent of PlanetOut’s stock.

They bought more than half of their stake on March 12, paying just shy of 6 cents as the shares hovered near an all-time low. The shares have tripled since, closing at 18 cents today.

In January, PlanetOut let go a third of its staff, including its chief tecnology officer, a week after it agreed to merge with Here Networks and Regent Entertainment Media into a new entity to be called Here Media. Regent publishes the gay news magazine The Advocate and Here Networks produces gay-oriented on-demand television.