ZelnickMedia LLC, a New York-based investment firm, is teaming with the former publisher of The Wall Street Journal, L. Gordon Crovitz, to make a possible run for BusinessWeek, according to a story by Tom Lowry of BusinessWeek.
Lowry writes, “Interest by the Zelnick-Crovitz team offers an intriguing twist to the months-long sale of the 80-year-old magazine, especially on the heels of Bloomberg LP submitting a bid for BusinessWeek less than a week ago. The financial data and media empire founded by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg was largely seen as the front runner for BusinessWeek.
“Those in deal circles familiar with the modus operandi of Strauss Zelnick, a former music and movie executive and founder of ZelnickMedia, say it is not unusual for him to wait until the absolute last minute to submit a bid. ‘He likes to hang around the hoop for a long time,’ says one investment banker. ZelnickMedia’s diverse investments have included a Japanese music company, Time Life, retailer Lillian Vernon and Take-Two Interactive Software, the publisher of the hit video game Grand Theft Auto. Zelnick, who co-founded the firm in 2001, declined to comment.
“That Zelnick would reach out to Crovitz makes sense since it is known that the well-regarded news executive has been looking for a second act following his departure from Dow Jones & Co. (The Wall Street Journal’s parent) after its sale to News Corp. in 2007. Crovitz knows ZelnickMedia partner Jim Friedlich, a senior executive at Dow Jones for nearly a decade. And Crovitz is known to have a good relationship with investment banker Jonathan Knee of Evercore Partners, which BusinessWeek’s parent McGraw-Hill & Cos has hired to sell the magazine. Knee did not return calls seeking comment.”
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