Monday, November 12, 2012

j2 Global Buys Ziff Davis

In a surprise move, Los Angeles-based cloud communications provider j2 Global said this morning that it has acquired technology publishing firm Ziff Davis. j2 Global said it paid $167M for j2, out of cash on hand, for Ziff Davis, which owns PCMag.com, ComputerShopper, ExtremeTech, Toolbox.com and Geek.com, among other properties. j2 Global, which is run by Hemi Zucker, said the buy is the 40th acquisition of the company, and that it plans to expand Ziff Davis through a combination of internal growth and acquisitions. j2 Global said the buy will contribute approximately $60M to its 2013 revenues. j2Global owns eFax, OneBox, Fusemail, and a number of other unified communications, online backup, email marketing, Internet fax, and other businesses.