U.S. media company Meredith Corp. has hired advisers to explore a sale of Fortune and Money magazines following its $1.84 billion acquisition of Time Inc. in January, reports Jessica Toonkel and Liana B. Baker of Reuters.
Toonkel and Baker report, “It was not clear how much the magazines could be worth. Fortune and Money generated more than $20 million in 12-month earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBIDTA), while Time generated more than $30 million in 12-month EBITDA, according to one of the people.
“The potential divestitures underscore how Time Inc’s primary attraction for Meredith was building scale in digital advertising. With its roots in traditional publishing, Meredith has been in a fierce competitive online race against internet giants such as Alphabet Inc’s Google and Facebook Inc for consumer eyeballs and advertising dollars.
“The deal with Time Inc expanded Meredith’s reach with internet-savvy millennials, creating a digital media business with 170 million monthly unique visitors in the United States and more than 10 billion annual video views.
“Meredith’s acquisition of Time Inc was aided by a $650 million investment from the private equity arm of Charles and David Koch, the billionaire brothers known for championing conservative political causes.”
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