Meredith Corp., which had courted Richmond-based Media General Inc. into a merger in late 2015, now has contacted Time Inc. to express interest in a potential merger with that iconic magazine publishing company, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Meredith-Time deal would rekindle a possible tie-up that died in 2013.
Other strategic companies and privately held businesses also have been in touch with Time about a possible deal, one of the people said. No talks have yet been held with interested parties, the person said.
Time’s board is expected to meet later this month to discuss its options, which include pushing forward as an independent company, the people said, asking not to be identified as the details aren’t public.
Meredith’s interest in Time would pose a challenge to media investors Edgar Bronfman Jr. and Ynon Kreiz, who remain interested in the iconic magazine publisher despite having their offer of about $2 billion spurned last month, the people said.
Shares in Time are up 13 percent since that bid was revealed early last month, giving it a market value of about $1.8 billion.
Meredith, based in Des Moines, Iowa, hasn’t yet decided if it wants to double down on the publishing industry instead of trying to gain scale in broadcasting, the people said.
Representatives for New York-based Time and Meredith declined to comment.
Meredith owns magazines including Better Homes and Gardens, Shape, Family Circle and Parents and 14 broadcast TV stations reaching about 12 million U.S. households, according to the company’s website.
Time publishes magazines including its eponymous Time title, as well as Sports Illustrated and Fortune.
Media General, the Richmond-based broadcast and digital media company, agreed to combine with Meredith in fall 2015. That deal fell apart a year ago in January when Media General agreed instead to be acquired by Texas-based Nexstar Broadcasting Group Inc. in a $4.6 billion deal.
Media General and Nexstar had expected to complete the merger in the fall, creating a company to be renamed Nexstar Media Group that would own or operate 171 television stations in 100 markets across the nation. But that deal is still awaiting regulatory approval by the Federal Communications Commission.
Time and Meredith discussed a deal in 2013 that would have brought the bulk of Time’s U.S. magazine titles under Meredith’s ownership, a person familiar with the talks said at the time. The decision to scrap the Meredith merger led to Time — which was then still owned by Time Warner Inc. — being spun off into an independent company.
“We are interested in expanding across all of our platforms,” Meredith Chief Financial Officer Joseph Ceryanec said Wednesday at the Citi Global Internet, Media and Telecommunications Conference in Las Vegas.
Ceryanec said the company would look at expanding across all of Meredith’s platforms, including magazine, digital and local broadcast.
