Meredith Is Putting a Number of Newly Acquired Titles Up for Sale, Including Sports Illustrated – ODP’s Reed Phillips quoted

SOURCE: ADWEEK

Meredith Is Putting a Number of Newly Acquired Titles Up for Sale, Including Sports Illustrated

Where will the legendary sports title go?

Meredith Corp. CEO Tom Harty had some big news to share with Time Inc. staffers during a town hall yesterday in New York: Legendary (and newly acquired) titles Sports Illustrated, Fortune, Money and Time will be sold. The Iowa-based Meredith owns monthly magazines that target women, including Better Homes & Gardens and Martha Stewart Living. Time Inc., on the other hand, counted news and sports titles like Sports Illustrated, Fortune, Money and Time among the titles in its portfolio.

Those don’t exactly fit with the existing Meredith portfolio, so they’re going to be sold.

“They have different target audiences and advertising bases, and we believe each brand is better suited for success with a new owner,” Harty noted in a separate statement.

The Meredith chief declined to name names of interested parties, but he did make clear that there is significant interest, even though titles like Sports Illustrated have seen a decline in ad revenue and circulation. For instance, SI has gone from publishing weekly to twice per month.

“Interest in all four of the titles will attract wealthy individuals, but SI and Money are also likely to attract strategic buyers,” said Reed Phillips, co-founder and managing partner of M&A and investment banking firm Oaklins DeSilva+Phillips. “For SI, that might include ESPN, Turner or someone else in sports. I’d add Wasserman Media to the list and other sports marketing companies.”

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