A Rough Guide To Understanding Time Inc.’s Sale

After a rough week for morale over at Time Inc., bids are due today for its Time4Media and Parenting groups of magazines. A quick recap and guide to sorting through what could become a confusing sale:

• Last fall, Time Inc. announced it would sell its Time4Media and Parenting groups as part of a restructuring effort to downsize by roughly 1,000 jobs.
• At the American Magazine Conference in Phoenix in October, Time Inc. CEO Ann Moore referred to its magazines as her “children” — 149 of them.
• Russell Denson, former president of Gruner + Jahr, was in Phoenix as a potential bidder.
• First rounds bids were due the same week.
• Time Inc. announced the slashing of 289 jobs.
• Second round bids were due today.
• Folio: reports the groups could be sold seperately or to a total of three buyers, and that bids may be for significantly less than the $250 million Time Inc. had hoped: “I expect they’ll get $200 million for everything (Parenting and Time4Media combined) … They’ll probably get $100 million or even below for the Time4Media group.”
• WWD says Time Inc. will “eventually narrow the field down to two to four serious bids of more than $200 million each.”
• The bidders for whole or part include: Active Interest Media and Apprise Media; Bonnier; CurtCo; Denson; former Time Inc. executive vice president Jack Haire; Bono, Roger McNamee and Elevation Partners; Knot CEO David Liu; Falconhead Capital; and former Wenner Media executive Kent Brownridge.
• Folio: also says InterMedia Partners, a private equity firm run by Leo Hindery, who founded the YES network, is the favorite in the Time4Media sweepstakes.

EARLIER:

Time Update: 289 Cuts; Atlanta, Chicago, L.A. Bureaus Shuttered; Ann Moore Encourages Employee Focus

Create a social media strategy, launch your campaign, and track the results in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting February 16. The online event and workshop will feature speakers including The Onion‘s Baratunde Thurston (left), Facebook’s Morin Oluwole, and bitly’s Tim Devane. Register now.