Ziff Davis acquired by former Time exec Vivek Shah, Great Hill Partners

Former Time Inc, executive Vivek Shah, in partnership with Boston-based private equity firm Great Hill Partners yesterday acquired leading US technology publisher Ziff Davis, for an undisclosed sum.

The 83 year-old Ziff Davis, headquartered in New York, is a publishing company specialising on consumer electronics and technology content on the web, and on other digital platforms including smart phones, e-readers and tablet devices.

Although it became popular as a publisher of hobbyist magazines, often those devoted to expensive, advertiser-rich hobbies such as motoring, photography, and electronics, Ziff Davis filed for Chapter 11 in 2008 and emerged from bankruptcy protection last year.

One of the most attractive assets of the company is Ziff Davis Labs, the largest and first computer testing lab in the industry. Ziff Davis Labs provides objective, benchmark-based product testing run by industry-leading analysts. For many in the tech industry, ratings from Ziff Davis properties are considered the industry gold-standard.

Vivek Shah and Great Hill Partners will be acquiring the nine Ziff Davis properties- PCMag.com, ExtremeTech, GearLog, GoodCleanTech, DL.tv, AppScout, CrankyGeeks, Smart Device Central and TechSaver.com, which reach over 7 million users per month.

Although the deal size was not disclosed, analysts have put a figure of little less than $150 million.