Update: 1/28: 12 p.m.: In a brief phone conversation this morning, Alexander Muse told Houstonia that nondisclosure agreements prevented him from confirming or denying his company’s interest in purchasing CultureMap. In addition, he stated once again that ViewMarket has not yet purchased CultureMap, and that it was “looking at a number of web properties both here in Texas and nationally, and we’re excited to grow the ViewMarket platform.”

Update: 1/28, 10:20 a.m.: Last evening, after publication of this story, Alexander Muse posted a comment to it stating that ViewMarket had “NOT purchased CultureMap.” Also, a reporter for the Dallas Business Journal, in an article published online later in the evening, stated that she had spoken to Muse, who “told me that ViewMarket has not bought CultureMap.”

None of this is inconsistent with the claims in Houstonia’s original story, namely that ViewMarket is in the final stages of buying CultureMap and planning to move its headquarters from Houston to Dallas.

Also, although Muse originally implied—in messages on Twitter and Facebook, as well as in a blog post published yesterday—that the magazine had been “punked,” those messages, along with his blog post, have now been taken down. Houstonia has reached out to Muse for comment, asking that he confirm or deny his company’s intentions, but he has yet to respond.

ViewMarket, a video content network with offices in Dallas and Santa Monica, California, is in the final stages of purchasing CultureMap, LLC, a news and entertainment website covering Houston, Austin, and Dallas, according to a Houstonia source who requested anonymity.

The source also stated that ViewMarket co-founder Alexander Muse plans to move CultureMap’s headquarters from Houston to Dallas. CultureMap has been based in Houston since its founding in 2009.

Houstonia attempted to contact ViewMarket co-founder Molly Cain this afternoon to confirm the sale but has not yet received a response. We will update this story as further information comes in.