As expected, magazine publishing titan Time Inc. agreed to sell itself to one of the company’s major competitors, Meredith Corp., over the weekend, in an all-cash sale valued at around $3 billion. Conservative-leaning tycoons Charles G. and David H. Koch helped Meredith with an infusion of around $600 million from their private equity arm.
Both Time and Meredith publish some of the world’s most popular food magazines, as well as family, health, and general lifestyle-themed publications that also cover cooking and entertaining. Here’s a list of all the major food-related titles that will now be owned by Meredith, with letters indicating their pre-acquisition affiliations, in alphabetical order:
All Recipes (M)
Better Home & Gardens (M)
Coastal Living (T)
Cooking Light (T)
Country Home (M)
Country Homes & Interiors (T)
Eating Well (M)
Extra Crispy (T)
Family Circle (M)
Food & Wine (T)
Health (T)
Homes & Gardens (T)
The Magnolia Journal (M)
Martha Stewart Living (M)
Midwest Living (M)
My Recipes (T)
Real Simple (T)
Rachael Ray Every Day (M)
Southern Living (T)
Sunset (T)
Travel & Leisure (T)
Women’s Weekly (T)
Meredith also has a bunch of quarterly theme magazine (Eat This Not That, Living the Country Life) and special issues (Jams & Jellies, Skinny One Pan Recipes).
Considering that Time Inc. and Meredith have built up a number of titles that are direct rivals to each other — like the recipe hubs My Recipes and All Recipes — it wouldn’t be surprising if some of these publications were killed or consolidated. Although Meredith has not announced any cutbacks yet, the New York Post floats the rumor that Time Inc.’s CEO Rich Battista is on the way out, and more staff cuts could be on the horizon. It’s also unclear just why, exactly, the Koch brothers want a piece of the Meredith/Time acquisition action, but by all accounts, the billionaires do not plan to have any editorial influence over this stable of publications.
Stay tuned for more details on the future of the Meredith/Time Inc. magazines as they become available.
• Time Inc. Sells Itself to Meredith Corp., Backed by Koch Brothers [NYT]
• The Koch brothers are about to own a piece of Time Inc. Why? [Recode]
• Time Inc. has new owners, including the Koch brothers [CNN]
• Bloodbath at Time Inc. to engulf CEO after Meredith buy [NYP]