Making sense of j2’s Ziff Davis acquisition

Contact: Ben Kolada

At first glance, j2 Global’s acquisition of Ziff Davis Media seemed to be a stretch. However, upon further review of j2’s M&A strategy and recently released financial statements for Ziff Davis, the company actually meets many of j2’s requirements for its diversification acquisitions: Ziff Davis has a strong management team, operates in a fragmented market and, perhaps most importantly, is increasing revenue.

Technology content provider Ziff Davis Media was a powerhouse in its time, but it struggled as consumers moved from print to digital media. Total revenue at the company declined from $300m in 2001 to $76m in 2007, when more than half of its revenue was still coming from print advertising.

Ziff Davis filed for bankruptcy in 2008, and was subsequently carved up in four transactions. The Ziff Davis chunk being acquired by j2 is owned by CEO Vivek Shah and Great Hill Partners. Shah, a digital publishing veteran with experience at Time Inc and the Fortune/Money Group, and his team helped turn around ailing Ziff Davis, bump up revenue and return it to profitability.

J2 released financial statements this week for Ziff Davis that show the company is in growth mode. Unaudited results for the nine months ended September 30 show revenue increased 70% over the prior year to $32m. In the 12 months ended September 30, the company generated almost $45m in revenue, with nearly $8m in EBITDA.

For anyone interested in what goes on in The 451 M&A KnowledgeBase, we’ve updated our merger record for j2’s acquisition of Ziff Davis and made it available for free. Click here to view the record.

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