Wired again getting hit by ZD.
ired for sale?
By John Gilles
January 23, 1998 4:52 PM PST
ZDTV
The owners of Wired Ventures are making the
rounds in an effort to drum up an investment or
buyer in the publishing industry.
In December, ZDNN broke the news that the
company may put parts of its operation on the
block.
At the time, Wired co-founder Louis Rossetto
angrily denied the story in an interview with
News.com, saying, "Wired Digital is not for sale.
Wired Magazine is not for sale. Wired Ventures is
not for sale."
Then earlier this month, during a celebration of the
magazine's fifth anniversary, Rossetto again
disavowed any possible sale of Wired Ventures
properties in an interview with ZDNN.
But on Friday, a Wall Street Journal article quoted
Wired COO Jeff Simon as saying a sale has not
been ruled out, but that it's not the most likely
option.
Rossetto was not available for comment. But
spokeswoman Shelly Tatum confirmed that the
company has hired investment banking firm Lazard
Freres & Co. to advise it, and that selling all or part
of the company remains one possibility among
several.
"We're working with Lazard Freres, exploring the
maximum financial opportunities available to us,"
Tatum said. "They're helping us structure strategic
financial relationships, but we haven't given them
any mandate."
The company failed twice to make a public stock
offering in 1996. Wired, which lost more than $38
million in the last two fiscal years, has fired more
than 100 people since the end of 1996. According
to documents filed in connection with an aborted
attempt to go public, Wired Ventures' overall
losses for the first nine months of 1996 came to
$42.8 million.
Wired Magazine by itself had by then become
profitable, and continues to operate in the black. Ad
revenue is running at between $1.5 and $3 million
per (monthly) issue, and circulation continues to
rise, gaining 20 percent in 1997.
In addition to Wired Magazine, Wired Ventures also
owns online properties Wired News, HotWired,
HotBot, and Suck.
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