Time Warner Inc will soon be without the magazine unit that provided the foundation for the company and the first part of its name. Time Inc, the division that publishes titles like Time, Fortune and People, will be spun off into a separate company, Time Warner said late Wednesday, ending weeks of merger negotiations with Meredith Corp. The process to separate Time Inc into an independent public company will likely take place by the end of the year.
Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes wrote in an internal memo obtained by Reuters that, "although change can be unsettling," Time Inc's "great legacy will live on as embarks on this new journey as a publicly-traded company." In a separate statement, Meredith said it had been approached by Time Warner. The two companies had been in talks to combine Time Inc's lifestyle and entertainment titles including People and InStyle with Meredith's titles such as Every Day with Rachael Ray and Better Homes and Gardens into a new publicly traded company. "We respect Time Warner's decision and certainly remain open to continuing a dialogue on how our companies might work together on future opportunities," Meredith Corp CEO Stephen Lacy said in a statement.