Here is the statement that Meredith Corp. put out on Monday regarding its decision to sell Fortune and Money magazines, among other titles:
“We have made significant progress executing on these initiatives since we closed on the acquisition just six weeks ago,” said Meredith President and CEO Tom Harty. “For example, today we are announcing we have completed our portfolio review and decided to explore the sale of the Time, Sports Illustrated, Fortune, and Money brands. These are attractive properties with strong consumer reach. However, they have different target audiences and advertising bases, and we believe each brand is better suited for success with a new owner. We are pleased with the inbound interest we have received, and we are confident these brands will be positioned for growth with an owner that shares Meredith’s respect for editorial integrity and independence.”
Meredith will not comment further until potential agreements have been reached. Today’s announcement follows the sale of several other acquired Time Inc. properties, including Time Inc. UK and Golf.
Meredith also said that has eliminated 200 positions from Time Inc. and will eliminate another 1,000 in the next 10 months. It’s unclear whether any of those positions came from Fortune or Money.
The full statement is here.
