New Speculations Surface About a Possible Meredith And Time Inc Tie Up, Wall Street Reacts

Mediawire

Both Time Inc and Meredith saw their stocks do a dance on Wednesday after Meredith's Chief Financial Officer Joe Ceryanec said that the company would be interested in opportunities for its TV and magazine businesses. Ok so this isn't news because Meredith has always been eyeing some kind of tie up with Time Inc and Meredith's CEO Steve Lacy has expressed that he is interested in doing deals. But clearly those comments made by Mr. Lacy's CFO Joe Ceryanec got Wall Street buzzing about something, especially because he implied that there was something in the works by saying “Obviously, we’re not going to comment on any specific deal at this point.” Last November Time Inc turned down an almost $2 billion offer from an investment group lead by the billionaire Edgar Bronfman. That bid fueled speculation about other possible bidders that may come forward. But to date there has been no new interest in Time Inc, at least not publicly. Time Inc was even expecting more bids, so much so that they hired two big banks to help manage the process. Meredith CEO Steve Lacy has been trying for years now to land Time Inc. He tried and came close right before the company was spun off. Meredith then entered an agreement to merge with Media General, but Media General bailed on the deal and went with another company. Steve Lacy is hungry for a deal, and he isn't going to stop being hungry until he gets the one he really wants, which many believe is Time Inc.

Time shares shot up to $18.65 in midday trading just after the Meredith 9:30 a.m. Las Vegas presentation. Time stock closed at $18.45, up 2.5 percent for the day. Meredith also jumped to $60.20, before closing at $59.95, up 2 percent.

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