Time Inc. Sells Itself to Meredith Corp., Backed by Koch Brothers
- 6 years ago
Time Inc. Sells Itself to Meredith Corp., Backed by Koch Brothers
But in its announcement of the deal, Meredith said
that the private equity fund, Koch Equity Development, would not have a seat on Meredith’s board of directors and would “have no influence on Meredith’s editorial or managerial operations.”
Steve Lombardo, a spokesman for Koch Industries, also said that the Kochs had no plans to take an active role in the expanded company.
In a note to its staff members on Sunday night, Rich Battista, the chief executive of Time Inc., said, he believed in “our strategic transformation plan
and in our ability to write the next great chapter of this storied company.”
“That said, as a publicly traded company, and one operating in such a dynamic industry as media, we know circumstances can change quickly,” he said.
The investment from the Kochs, Meredith said, “underscores a strong belief in Meredith’s strength as a business operator, its strategies
and its ability to unlock significant value from the Time Inc. acquisition.”
Some Koch allies have suggested that the brothers would view their investment purely as a moneymaking opportunity.
“This just happened to be one that made sense.”
A deal between Meredith and Time Inc. fell apart in 2013 after Meredith reportedly said
that it did not want to acquire some of Time Inc.’s best-known titles, including Time, Fortune and Sports Illustrated.
After the successful start of the business magazine Fortune in 1930, Luce added Life magazine to Time Inc.’s growing stable and transformed it into a wide-ranging general interest magazine
that made use of glorious photography to capture movie stars, world leaders and exotic, far-flung places.
But in its announcement of the deal, Meredith said
that the private equity fund, Koch Equity Development, would not have a seat on Meredith’s board of directors and would “have no influence on Meredith’s editorial or managerial operations.”
Steve Lombardo, a spokesman for Koch Industries, also said that the Kochs had no plans to take an active role in the expanded company.
In a note to its staff members on Sunday night, Rich Battista, the chief executive of Time Inc., said, he believed in “our strategic transformation plan
and in our ability to write the next great chapter of this storied company.”
“That said, as a publicly traded company, and one operating in such a dynamic industry as media, we know circumstances can change quickly,” he said.
The investment from the Kochs, Meredith said, “underscores a strong belief in Meredith’s strength as a business operator, its strategies
and its ability to unlock significant value from the Time Inc. acquisition.”
Some Koch allies have suggested that the brothers would view their investment purely as a moneymaking opportunity.
“This just happened to be one that made sense.”
A deal between Meredith and Time Inc. fell apart in 2013 after Meredith reportedly said
that it did not want to acquire some of Time Inc.’s best-known titles, including Time, Fortune and Sports Illustrated.
After the successful start of the business magazine Fortune in 1930, Luce added Life magazine to Time Inc.’s growing stable and transformed it into a wide-ranging general interest magazine
that made use of glorious photography to capture movie stars, world leaders and exotic, far-flung places.