The sale of Money magazine by Meredith Corp. is likely delayed until the middle of the year, reports Kali Hays of WWD.com
Hays reports, “Whomever ends up sealing a deal, the price for Sports Illustrated is said to have come down to around $150 million, the same price fetched for Fortune and about $40 million less than that for Time. Money magazine, however, is proving to be something of a leftover, even though it’s valued on the high end at $15 million.
“Part of Meredith’s initial plan, and really the most important, has held firm: getting about $500 million from the sales. It’s already gotten $340 million combined for Fortune and Time, so if it gets around $150 million for Sports Illustrated and even just $10 million for Money, it will hit the mark. However much it gets, the publisher intends to use the cash to continue paying down its debt by $1 billion this year. It’s already paid down $700 million with cash from the Time and Fortune sales and operations. Total liabilities stand at $4.5 billion, while net debt is $2.4 billion.
“In the filing, Meredith reiterated that it’s on track to cut costs by $550 million the end of the next fiscal year, more than the $500 million it had planned for. Already costs have been reduced by about $275 million, mainly through ‘reductions in headcount,’ of the roughly 1,200 layoffs Meredith announced after the Time Inc. acquisition. The next $275 million in reductions is expected to come through updated vendor contracts and real estate transactions.”
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