Ziff-Davis Purchase Called An Anomaly

At a time when Japanese companies have been pulling out of flashy investments like Rockefeller Center and the Westin Hotel chain, the purchase of Ziff-Davis Publishing Co. represents a departure.

Softbank Corp., Japan’s leading software distributor, on Thursday announced it was buying America’s largest computer magazine publisher for $2.1 billion. The deal ranks among the most prominent Japanese purchases since the spending spree of the 1980s.

It does not, however, appear to foreshadow a return to that era.

“I think this is an anomaly,” said J.P. Morgan economist Jesper Koll.

While many big Japanese purchases during the 1980s were driven by poorly defined hopes of creating more efficient operations, Softbank’s acquisition appears based on a clear strategy of building strength in the computer industry.