The company had been owned by Oriental Rainbow, LLC, a subsidiary of China Oceanwide Holdings Group.

The media publishing arm was once a powerhouse in the 1990s tech publishing world. However, its shine has faded in recent years as the publishing industry has come under intense pressure.

The company has also made some additions to the platform more recently, with a stronger focus on data and analytics. Last year it bought Triblio, a marketing data platform to help companies deliver more personalised customer experiences. Last month it acquired Metri, an IT pricing service, which can help with IT budgeting and procurement. The latter could dovetail nicely with IDC’s consulting services.

Company CEO Mohamad Ali [no really, ed]  is hoping 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”, Ali said in a statement.

The company launched in 1964 with the consulting side of the business, but founder Pat McGovern had a broader vision and began the publishing side of the company in 1967 with the launch of Computerworld.

The publishing business actually grew to become an integral part of the rise of the PC and the technology shift that occurred at a personal and business level in the 80s and 90s. It’s unclear what this deal will mean for the publishing side of the house or where that would even fit as it continues the push to focus on data and analytics.