Time Inc, whose UK arm publishes the likes of NME, Marie Claire and What’s on TV magazines, made the announcement on Friday (22 September) after revealing a “softness in both print and other advertising revenues” during Q3 2017.
The company said that it had identified and was pursuing divestiture opportunities with respect to several assets, with those identified including Time Inc UK, its Florida-based subscription management services centre Time Customer Service, a majority stake in the Essence brand and the Sunset, Coastal Living and Golf brands. It said the assets represent around $488m (£362m), or 17%, of total revenue for the year ended 30 June 2017.
The sale process for the assets was said to be at different stages but Time said a transaction could be announced as early as Q4 2017.
A Time Inc UK spokesperson said: "It's no secret that as part of its ongoing transformation, Time Inc continues to scrutinise every area of its business. Time Inc UK is a proven and profitable company and, for us, it remains business as usual."
Wyndeham Group is the sole supplier of all of Time Inc UK’s circa-50 titles, signing a deal in June 2016 after its owner Walstead acquired Polestar’s Bicester operation. This marked a turnaround after Wyndeham had initially lost its Time Inc contract to Polestar, which was awarded a single-supplier deal in 2014. PrintWeek then revealed that Time Inc had in fact part funded the Bicester acquisition.
A spokesman for Wyndeham said that it was “far too early” to suggest what the potential consequences of any sale process might be. Earlier this year, it initiated a 30-day consultation process at the Bicester site, leading to the loss of 58 jobs.
A source told PrintWeek: "When you look at the overall attrition in publishing, and the sinking circulations at companies like Time Inc, it's clear there has got to be some M&A. You can't fight off structural decay, so they've got to come together to save on overheads.
"The problem is a lot of the managers at big publishing companies are not used to it. What they are used to is brand management and big expense accounts."
Last month, Time announced the launch of a strategic transformation programme, an intention to accelerate the optimisation of cost savings and revenue opportunities. It said it was targeting more than $400m of run-rate cost savings, with initiatives set to be implemented within the first 18 months of the programme.
The announcement was made at the publication of its Q2 2017 results, which showed a circa-10% revenue drop on the same period in 2016 and a 16.7% fall in print and other advertising revenue, down to $249m.
Founded as the International Publishing Corporation (IPC) after a merger of three magazine publishers in 1963, the UK business was then acquired by Time Warner in 2001 and renamed Time Inc UK in 2014 when Time Inc divested from Time Warner.
