Meredith To Cut 1,000 Jobs

(RTTNews) - Meredith Corp. (MDP) Wednesday announced its plans to lay off over 1,000 jobs as part of its integration strategy following acquisition of the Time Inc.

Meredith said headcount reductions is part of its plan to realize between $400 to $500 million of cost synergies from the Time Inc. acquisition.

The company said about 200 employees have been notified that their positions have been eliminated, while around 1,000 more positions will be eliminated over the next 10 months.

Meredith said it will also conduct a portfolio review of all its media assets and divest those not core to its business. The announcement follows the sale of several other acquired Time Inc. properties, including Time Inc. UK and Golf.

"We have made significant progress executing on these initiatives since we closed on the acquisition just six weeks ago," said Meredith President and CEO Tom Harty. "For example, today we are announcing we have completed our portfolio review and decided to explore the sale of the TIME, Sports Illustrated, Fortune, and Money brands. These are attractive properties with strong consumer reach."

In November, Meredith agreed to buy Time for $18.50 per share in cash valuing the fabled New York publisher at $1.85 billion.

The bid by Meredith,which publishes Better Homes & Gardens and Martha Stewart Living, among others was by conservative billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch. The acquisition of the Time Inc. media brands was closed on January 31, 2018.