Edgar Bronfman Jr. Makes Failed Bid for Time Inc.
Image by YouTube
Time Inc, the publisher of Time, People and Fortune magazines, has rejected a takeover bid from billionaire investor Edgar Bronfman Jr., the New York Post reported on Monday.
Bronfman offered $18 per share, the Post reported, representing a premium of 30.4 percent to Time Inc’s Friday close and valuing the publisher at $1.78 billion.
Time Inc’s shares jumped 18 percent to $16.05 on Monday.
Bronfman, who is a managing partner of private equity firm Accretive LLC, made the bid along with Russian-born billionaire Leonard Blavatnik, the founder of holding company Access Industries, and Israeli businessman Ynon Kreiz, the Post reported. (http://nyp.st/2g8SQtd)
Bronfman, a former chief executive of Warner Music Group, has a long history in the media and entertainment world. His family made its fortune from Seagram’s, once the largest distiller of alcoholic beverages in the world.
A spokeswoman for Time Inc declined to comment. Access Industries did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while Bronfman could not immediately be reached.
Time, like many publishers, has been hit by a decline in print ad sales as advertisers spend more on other media and readers increasingly move online.
Digital advertising has been the lone bright spot for the company, with revenue rising 63 percent in the latest quarter.
Up to Friday’s close, Time’s shares had fallen 12 percent this year and about 42 percent in the last two years.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
