Meredith Corporation has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell the Time media brand to the founders of Salesforce.com, Marc and Lynne Benioff for £144.65 million in cash. The transaction is expected to close within a month.
The Benioffs are purchasing Times personally and the transaction is unrelated to Salesforce.com, where Benioff is Chairman, Co-CEO, and founder. Marc Benioff and his wife Lynne will not be involved in the day-to-day operations or journalistic decisions, which will continue to be led by Time’s current executive leadership team.
Times is a global, breaking news multimedia brand that reaches a combined audience of more than 100 million readers in print and online, including over 50 million digital visitors and 40 million social followers each month.
"We're pleased to have found such passionate buyers in Marc and Lynne Benioff for the Times brand," said Meredith President and CEO Tom Harty.
"For over 90 years, Times has been at the forefront of the most significant events and impactful stories that shape our global conversation. We know Times will continue to succeed and is in good hands with the Benioffs. We thank the Time team for its ongoing hard work and passionate commitment," he added.
Meredith acquired Time as part of its purchase of Time Inc., which closed on January 31, 2018. Shortly thereafter, Meredith announced it was selling Time Inc.'s news and sports brands, Time, Sports Illustrated, Fortune and Money to focus on brands serving its core audience of American women. Meredith expects to announce agreements for the remaining asset sales in the near future.
As part of the transaction, Meredith will provide short-term business continuity services and has entered into a multi-year agreement with the Benioffs to provide services such as consumer marketing, subscription fulfillment, paper purchasing and printing. Meredith will also be able to include the Time brand in large corporate advertising buys.
Meredith plans to use proceeds from the transaction to pay down debt. Meredith expects to reduce its debt by £761.30m during fiscal 2019.
Citigroup Global Markets Inc. served as financial advisor to Meredith and Cooley LLP served as legal advisor. BDT & Company served as financial advisor to the Benioffs and Goodwin Procter LLP served as legal advisor.
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