Magazine publisher Ziff Davis Media Inc. has hired restructuring advisers
Alvarez & Marsal LLC to help restructure $390 million in debt after
failing to make a bond interest payment that was due Wednesday, Aug. 15.
"Operationally, we're in very good shape, but we still have debt that was put
on the company when it was a very different scale," newly installed CEO Josh
Young told the New York Post. Indeed, the company is much smaller, both
through attrition following the closure of magazines and sales of titles. The
company's staff, at 290, is now less than a fourth of its former self. The
Willis Stein & Partners LLC-owned company most recently sold its
enterprise publication group to Insight Venture Partners in July leaving it
with three titles: Electronic Gaming Monthly, Games for Windows and PC
Magazine. Earlier in the year, the company had attempted to sell itself in
three pieces but failed to find buyers for PC Magazine. Reportedly, buyers had
placed bids for its video-game unit, but they only wanted its 1UP.com Web
site, leading ZD to walk away from the table. —Matthew Wurtzel
See story from The New York Post
See story about Insight purchase from TheDeal.com
See Backstory column about the auction from The Deal
See earlier post from Dealscape
See post about auction from Dealscape
Tags: media, deals, m&a, mergers, private+equity
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