Print and Web publisher Ziff Davis Media filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Wednesday, citing declining advertising revenue and subscriptions as contributing factors, according an Associated Press report Wednesday.
(Credit:
Ziff Davis Media)
"Today's restructuring agreement goes a long way towards resolving the burdens of a debt load and capital structure established seven years ago, during a leveraged buyout of the company,'" Ziff Davis Media Chief Executive Officer Jason Young said in the statement.
The company said it had reached an equity-debt swap deal with senior creditors, to whom it owes $225 million. Once the company emerges from court protection, the senior creditors would receive $57.5 million and at least 88.8 percent of the common stock in the company.
Ziff Davis Media announced Thursday plans to sell its enterprise group for approximately $150 million in cash to a New York-based private equity and venture capital firm.
An affiliate of Insight Venture Partners of New York is snapping up Ziff's publications EWeek, Baseline and CIO magazines, according to Ziff's announcement.
But before jumping to the conclusion that CIO magazine has been sold, keep in mind that CIO is owned by rival IDG. The CIO magazine Ziff is selling is CIO Insight.
Ziff is also selling a number of online publications as part of the deal. These include EWeek.com, Web Buyers Guide, CIOInsight.com, Baseline, Microsoft Watch, Channel Insider and DeviceForge.com.
The sale of these online properties, ironically, comes as a number of brick-and-mortar print publications are searching for ways to grab an online presence, in order to chase after advertising dollars migrating online.
The deal, which is expected to close in the third quarter, also wraps in the company's worldwide events and database of 3.5 million users.
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