Ziff Davis' Sale To Occur Today?
According to the New York Post, bids for the Ziff Davis publishing franchise were due at the end of the business day today. It seems that the publisher's holding company, Chicago-based Willis Stein, will only be getting pennies to the dollar for what they originally paid:
Willis Stein is probably wishing they had taken their small lumps five years ago: Most industry observers are betting the current auction goes for only a fraction of the price that Dunning and Willis Stein paid.For the current bust-up, the company is being split into the gaming group, which includes video gaming magazines and Web sites, and the enterprise division, which includes PC Magazine - once the biggest magazine tracked by the Publishers Information Bureau in terms of ad pages.
Bidders still looking at parts of the company include Apprise Media and Viacom's MTV publishing unit. Quadrangle is said to have dropped out.
The article itself chronicles the franchise's latest financial problems, which in itself makes for an interesting read. Now I know why all my favorite ZD magazines are no longer being printed, but that doesn't mean I want them replaced with an endless supply of EGM.
Media Ink [NY Post]
[via IGN]
Boy of Tomorrow
Posted to Hot Stuff on 19 January 2007
