Meredith Corporation purchased Time Inc. for $2.8 billion, what does that mean for the media company based in Des Moines? Kelsey Kremer/The Register
Meredith Corp. this week cleared a regulatory hurdle, which allows it to move forward with its $2.8 billion purchase of Time Inc.
The Des Moines publisher announced Friday afternoon that the transaction had received approval from the Federal Trade Commission. A mandated waiting period was set to expire late Friday, but the agency offered an early termination after hearing no anti-trust objections to the deal.
After two failed bids to acquire Time, Meredith announced on Nov. 27 that it had reached a deal to buy the New York publisher and all its assets. That transaction will deliver Meredith a massive media audience and deliver it considerable influence among advertisers.
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Now, Meredith plans to close the sale within 30 days. That means the Des Moines publisher will soon own titles like Time magazine, Fortune, People and Sports Illustrated.
"This represents the key regulatory milestone that we had to complete, and it positions us to close the transaction within 30 days," said Meredith spokesman Art Slusark.
Meredith executives have said they would perform a top-to-bottom review of Meredith and Time titles before deciding how to move ahead with the purchase. Industry insiders say the publisher may double down on its newfound scale and keep most of Time's properties. Or it may seek to keep only those titles that fit with its longstanding focus on female audiences.
In earlier acquisition talks with Time, Meredith reportedly was not interested in acquiring Time, Sports Illustrated and Fortune, fueling speculation that it may soon look to ditch those titles.
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