DUNNING, WILLIS STEIN TO BUY ZIFF-DAVIS

Posted Tuesday, December 7, 1999 12:00 am

By: Lisa Granatstein Leading Web Publisher To Change Hands

(Mediaweek) James Dunning and private equity investment firm Willis, Stein & Partners have teamed to acquire Ziff-Davis Publishing and Ziff-Davis Inc. for $780 million in cash. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2000.

Ziff-Davis is the leading computer and Internet magazine publisher with more than 80 trade and consumer international titles, including Yahoo! Internet Life, PC Magazine, and PC Week.

Dunning will serve as chairman/CEO of the new Ziff-Davis Holdings and chairman of Ziff Davis Publishing. Mike Perlis will continue as president/CEO of Ziff-Davis Publishing. ZD Publishing's offices will remain in New York.

Ziff-Davis has been unloading its assets for the past few months. In November, ZD sold off its ZD Education division for $172 million to U.S. Equity Partners LG, an investment fund run by Wasserstein Parella. In August, ZD sold its database group to Harte-Hanks Inc. for $106 million.

(c) Copyright 1999, Editor & Publisher

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DUNNING, WILLIS STEIN TO BUY ZIFF-DAVIS

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