Meredith Corp. to acquire Time Inc. for $2.8 billion

By SAMANTHA MASUNAGA at the LA Times

http://beta.latimes.com/business/la-fi-meredith-time-inc-20171126-story.html

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Magazine publisher and broadcast company Meredith Corp. said Sunday afternoon it will acquire Time Inc. in a deal valued at $2.8 billion, a further sign of the steep challenges facing the print magazine industry.

The Des Moines, Iowa-based company said in a statement that it has agreed to pay $18.50 a share for New York-based Time that owns the marquee publications Fortune and Sports Illustrated.

The deal -- which includes $1.85 billion in cash and the assumption of debt -- had been approved by both firms' boards of directors and is expected to close in the first quarter in 2018.

The transaction received financial from the billionaire Koch brothers. Meredith said it secured $650 million from Koch Equity Development, the investment arm of Koch Industries, but the publisher said Koch Equity Development would not have a seat on the Meredith board and "will have no influence on Meredith's editorial or managerial operations."

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