Meredith Corp. Acquires Time Inc. in $2.8 Billion Koch-Backed Deal
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Meredith Corp., a magazine publisher and broadcast company, will acquire Time Inc. in a deal totaling $2.8 billion, the company announced in a statement Sunday.
The Des Moines, Iowa-based company said in the statement that the all-cash deal had been approved by both firms’ boards of directors and is expected to close in the first quarter in 2018. Meredith will pay $18.50 per share of the publicly traded Time Inc.
Meredith is backed by $650 million from Koch Equity Development, the investment arm of Koch Industries. According to Meredith, KED will not have a seat on its board, and will have “no influence on Meredith’s editorial or managerial operations.”
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“I am proud of our accomplishments and thank the talented teams across the company for their extraordinary work, relentless commitment, and passion,” Time Inc. CEO Rich Battista said in a statement. “Together, we moved quickly and successfully to launch, grow, and advance our multi-platform offerings during unprecedented times in the media sector.”
The two companies had several rounds of talks in recent years, but were never able to come to a conclusive deal. Meredith’s best-known brands are Better Homes and Gardens and Family Circle, while New York-based Time Inc. operates the storied Time magazine, in addition to Entertainment Weekly, People, and Fortune.
The acquisition comes at a time wherein print media continues to struggle, with Time Inc. reporting a 9% decrease in its revenue in the first nine months of 2017 compared to the previous year.