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Cosmic: IDG and Ziff Davis Tie Up

Rafat Ali — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 23:10:45 +0000

This is as cosmic as it gets in the generally boring B2B publishing world: IDG and Ziff Davis have tied up, though the latter is in a very different incarnation than days of yore. IDG TechNetwork, the online ad network from IDG which has about 200 third-party publishers in it, will now sell ads on behalf of some of Ziff Davis Enterprise’s properties, including Developer Shed Network, a portfolio of sites aimed at the developer community. The partnership will likely extend to other partnerships, the companies said. This comes as ZDE recently poached some senior execs from IDG joining the company, including Matthew Sweeney, former CEO of the Computerworld and InfoWorld brands at IDG and Eric Lundquist, formerly Content Director, New Media at IDG.

ZDE was spun off the original Ziff Davis Media when it was acquired by PE firm Insight Venture Partners in 2007 for about $160 million. It then raised $20 million last year, but amidst the downturn, has done layoffs and a reorg since then. Just recently it announced that the company had restructured its debt, with an effort to “significantly reduce” the company

Ziff Davis Enterprise Restructures, Issues Layoffs

David Kaplan — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 23:17:00 +0000

Tech publisher Ziff Davis Enterprise is cutting an unspecified number of jobs, according to B2B magazine. The layoffs were handed down by Steve Weitzner, who was named chairman-CEO of ZDE in January.

Aside from the layoffs, ZDE, the publisher of Baseline, CIO Insight and eWEEK, also promoted a number of executives. Kirk Laughlin is moving to the managing director post of the Live Event unit, after serving as senior editorial director. Also, Kevin Neary, formerly CFO at Primedia (NYSE: PRM), has joined ZDE as exec VP-CFO. ZDE is separate from two other entities currently operating under the

Ziff Davis Enterprise Secures $20 Million Funding To Promote Acquisitions

David Kaplan — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 18:39:00 +0000

B2B tech publisher Ziff Davis Enterprise has raised $20 million in funding from Bessemer Venture Partners. ZDE will use the funding to pursue acquisitions and create services related to audience development, social media, and contextual content. In terms of the acquisitions, ZDE is looking towards buying small- to mid-sized technology companies in emerging markets.

When discussing ZDE, it becomes necessary to explain that there are two other entities, now unrelated, currently operating under the “Ziff Davis” rubric: the bankrupt Ziff Davis Media; Cnet’s ZDnet.com; and ZD Enterprise, which was sold by ZDM to PE firm Insight Venture Partners last June for about $160 million. So, with this $20 million funding, BVP joins Insight as part owner of ZDE. Release

More on The Real ZD: ZDE Says We Are Not ZD

Rafat Ali — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 07:18:00 +0000

More in the ongoing Ziff Davis bankruptcy saga…as we mentioned before, the confusion over three companies having Ziff Davis (or at least ZD) as part of their branding doesn’t help. Now this confusion has escalated in its seriousness as Ziff Davis filed for Ch 11…so much so that a note from Steve Weitzner, CEO of Ziff Davis Enterprise (the enterprise division which was sold last year to Insight Venture Partners) points out the market confusion and clears the air (imagine the effect of the confusion if ZDE or Ziff Davis happened to be a publicly traded company):

“I joined Ziff Davis Enterprise in January because I saw an unprecedented opportunity to serve technology buyers and sellers in this market. After two months on the job I couldn’t be happier with my decision.

However, I’m aware of the potential confusion that some recent media industry news might be causing about Ziff Davis Enterprise. So let me set the record straight:

1. Ziff Davis Enterprise and Ziff Davis Media are not the same company. Ziff Davis Enterprise is an entirely separate entity. We were acquired in July 2007 by Insight Venture Partners, a leading venture firm with an extensive portfolio of internet enablement companies.

2. We are well-funded and continually investing in infrastructure and innovation that best serves our customers. Thanks to our parent, Insight Venture Partners, we have significant investment capital at our disposal.

3. We are B2B technology’s trusted information and marketing resource.

The unique combination of our relevant, objective content, contextual marketing and audience development expertise accelerates the technology buying process – for buyers and sellers – by delivering the right message at the right time to the right audience. I am extremely excited about our opportunity for success in this ever changing market and look forward to a rewarding relationship with our audience and the marketing community.

Best regards,
Steve”

There you go…change the name, Steve, will Ya?

Will The Real ZD Please Stand Up?

Rafat Ali — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 23:37:00 +0000

Alan Meckler, never one to mince his words, had an interesting observation on Ziff Davis’ Chapter 11 filing yesterday: “Presently there are three ZD-like entities in the arena: Ziff Davis Media (bankrupt); ZDnet.com (part of Cnet); and ZD Enterprise (independent). Perhaps the Insight folks should consider changing the name of their new property?”

Then, he discloses something I asked him two years ago and he denied then: “In the summer of 2005 I offered to buy through Jupitermedia (NSDQ: JUPM) all of Ziff Davis (this included the Enterprise portion as well as the part that went bankrupt) for assumption of the then $350 million of debt). I was turned down. The seller felt that a fair price was $850 cash and assumption of debt. I laughed. End of story.”

Industry Moves: Ziff Davis Enterprise Taps Weitzner As Chairman and CEO

David Kaplan — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 00:53:00 +0000

Steve Weitzner, the former CEO of CMP’s United Business Media (LSE: UBM) division, has been named chairman and CEO of Ziff Davis Enterprise. Last summer, Ziff Davis sold off the ZDE group, which houses such magazines as eWEEK, Baseline, and CIO Insight, to an affiliate of the NYC-based PE firm Insight Venture Partners, for roughly $160 million. In his new post, Weitzner is charged with expanding ZDE’s print, online, lead generation and event brands. In particular, the primary challenge will be in meshing the lead gen properties like the Web Buyers Guide with the website development assets of DevShed. Release

Rafat adds: Steve was supposedly ousted as CEO of CMP in November last year and was appointed head of CMP Technology