Des Moines-based media company Meredith Corporation is buying publishing giant Time Incorporated. Meredith is receiving financing help from the conservative Koch brothers.
Meredith’s deal to buy Time Inc. comes to around $2.8 billion, including the New York-based publisher’s debt. Koch Equity Development is provided $650 million of that amount. Meredith chairman and CEO Steve Lacy says the arrangement with the politically conservative Kochs does not include editorial influence.
“Their desire to be passive, and not require a board seat and observer rights and all sorts of other things we learned as we went through the process without a doubt made the offer from the Koch equity division of their company the most attractive,” Lacy says.
Time brings to the deal some of the nation’s best known magazines, including People, Sports Illustrated, Fortune and Time. Better Homes & Gardens is the leading publication in the Meredith holdings. It also owns 17 television stations.
Meredith's purchase of Time is expected to close during the first quarter of the 2018 calendar year.