Feb 9, 2017

Time Inc. suitors keep to themselves

Dan Primack, author of Pro Rata

(AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

There's a theory floating around Time Inc. that the magazine publisher's two known suitors ― Meredith Corp. and a group led by Edgar Bronfman Jr. ― may team up, with Meredith carving out the lifestyle-type titles and Bronfman retaining the newsier pubs. But a source familiar with the situation tells Axios that there have been no such conversations between the two parties.

Price talk: The market isn't really getting ahead of this one: Shares jumped from $13.80 after a late November report that Bronfman had bid $18 per share (which was rejected by Time Inc.'s board), but never climbed above $19.25 per share (Feb. 3). They closed trading today at $18.80 a piece ― suggesting that shareholders aren't expecting either Bronfman (nor Meredith) to go much higher than that original offer.

Timing: Both Meredith and Bronfman Jr. have signed nondisclosure agreements in order to view nonpublic information and meet with Time Inc. execs, but there does not seem to be a formal timetable for bids. Or, in the source's words, it's "flexible."

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