Softbank To Merge Comdex, Ziff-Davis, Softbank Forums

TOKYO - Softbank, the flagship enterprise in Japan of billionaire computer mogul Masayoshi Son, plans to merge three of its most valuable U.S. subsidiaries.

The three are Ziff-Davis Publishing, the leading provider of computer magazines in the United States, computer trade-show operator Comdex and Softbank Forums.

The move will create a powerhouse in the computer-products sales field. It will combine the publisher of three of the top-selling U.S. computer magazines and the world's largest operator of computer trade shows with a how-to division, Softbank Forums, which conducts sales and training seminars for computer products.

News of the merger quickly prompted speculation that the move may lead to Softbank spinning off the new company to investors. That would help Softbank retire some of the $2.4 billion in bonds it has issued over the past three years to finance the purchase of dozens of computer-related companies, mostly American.

Last year Softbank paid $1.4 billion for 80 percent of California-based Kingston Technology, the world's largest supplier of add-on memory boards for personal computers. The year before it bought Ziff-Davis for $2.1 billion and Comdex for $800 million.

Softbank also has spent $200 million investing in 30-plus Internet start-ups. These include stakes in Web search engine developer Yahoo!, Internet payments company CyberCash, a 20 percent stake in network-software developer Novell's Japanese subsidiary and a piece of Asymetrix, founded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.

Concern over Softbank's ability to service that debt load and manage its global empire has fueled a sharp decline in Softbank's share price in the past 19 months.

The company, which distributes more than 50 percent of the computer-software programs sold in Japan, began trading over-the-counter in mid-1994 and quickly tripled to peak at 12,308 yen ($100) in April 1996. Since then, it has plummeted 76 percent to 2,930 yen.