Blackstone has acquired media and data company International Data Group (IDG) for $1.3 billion. The company had been owned by Chinese Oriental Rainbow, LLC, a subsidiary of China Oceanwide Holdings Group, Co. Ltd. Founded in 1964, IDG provides market intelligence for the fast-growing technology industry.
IDG owns tech analyst firm along with its tech publications including CIO, Computerworld, InfoWorld, Macworld, Network World, PCWorld and Tech Hive. Private equity fund Blackstone entered into a definitive agreement to acquire IDG from Oriental Rainbow, a subsidiary of China Oceanwide Holdings Group.
“The high-quality data, analytics, and insights IDG delivers to technology leaders are only becoming more critical as the pace of growth and innovation accelerates,” said Peter Wallace, Global Head of Core Private Equity at Blackstone.
IDG CEO Mohamad Ali hopes that Blackstone can infuse more capital into the company to keep building on its software services with a data focus.
“Additional capital investment from Blackstone will allow us to cultivate our rich history of innovation and accelerate our product roadmaps to bring our customers the deeper insights and data they need to succeed in today’s rapidly evolving digital economy,” Mohamad Ali said in a statement.
As the content is going to be the future of the eco-system, where the big tech companies are thriving, they are including all the biggies you can name about. Media assets are going to be the sharp weapon for every company into social media and marketing organisations. Going forward, it’ll be country and Regional specific.
Recently, Verizon Media, which owns this publication along with Engadget, has entered an agreement to sell its media assets to private equity firm Apollo Global Management for $5 billion. Apollo will be paying Verizon $4.25 billion in cash, along with preferred interests of $750 million, and Verizon will keep 10% of the company.
