The financial details of the equity stake were not disclosed.

CareerBuilder will pay up to $443 million over seven years under the partnership, which makes it the exclusive job search engine through 2013 on Microsoft’s MSN Careers site.

Under the terms of the deal, which is an extension of a previous agreement, the size of the payment depends on the number of visitors to the Microsoft site.

“They provide a terrific platform for us to grow domestically and internationally,” CareerBuilder Chief Executive Matt Ferguson told Reuters. “We know that the relationship will be successful in helping us drive business.”

The equity deal reduces the stake of the three newspaper publishers that own CareerBuilder.

Los Angeles Times publisher Tribune Co. and USA Today publisher Gannett Co. Inc. will each own 40.8 percent of CareerBuilder, down from about 42.5 percent. McClatchy Co. will own 14.4 percent, compared with 15 percent previously.

The publishers’ stakes in CareerBuilder are part of their plan to beef up online advertising revenue at a time when ad sales at their print editions are falling, in part because more people are getting news online instead of in their papers.

Gannett, McClatchy and Tribune also have stakes in Topix.com, a local news archive and reader discussion forum.

Tribune and Gannett also are working on their own plans to develop an online advertising network, even as McClatchy — which publishes the Miami Herald and Sacramento Bee — works with Yahoo Inc. and nearly a dozen other publishers on a separate network.

CareerBuilder, whose U.S. revenue rose 36 percent to about $672 million last year, said it is not seeking new equity partners or mulling a share public offering.

“We are not in any discussions right now, but we are always looking for strategic or equity partners to help us drive the business,” Ferguson said.

Gannett shares fell 34 cents to $58.49 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange. McClatchy shares rose 9 cents to $29, while Tribune shares rose 14 cents to $33.

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