Sale of Money magazine delayed until midyear

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.”

Read more here.