Ziff-Davis Inc has signed a definitive agreement to sell its remaining 64% interest in ZDTV to Vulcan Ventures Inc, Paul Allen’s investment company, for $204.8m. Vulcan bought its first 33% of the cable network nine months ago, so the new deal brings the company’s holding to 97%, while valuing ZDTV at $320m. The network boasts access to 14 million homes in the USA, a figure that is expected to reach 16 million by the end of the year. ZDTV is offered through 88 cable operators and 400 cable systems, as well as through the satellite companies DirecTV and Echo Star.
Even if the transaction is approved, the network will retain access to a news organization it runs jointly with ZDNet and ZD Publishing. In fact, the deal recalls nothing so much as the sale of Wired magazine to Conde Nast Inc, a transaction which effectively cut the heart out of Wired Ventures as a new media empire. In a similar way, Ziff-Davis parent company Softbank Inc is divesting itself of the media and publishing company’s unprofitable, non-internet-related businesses. Earlier this week, ZD Education was sold to Wasserstein Perella for $172m, while Harte-Hanks Inc paid $106m for ZD Market Intelligence in August 1999.
