Meredith Corporation, the publishing behemoth with a presence in Birmingham that includes Southern Living magazine, is being sold for $2.7 billion.
The company, with headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa, will be sold to New York-based IAC/Interactive Corp.’s Dotdash digital publishing unit, according to a release from Meredith. The sale, which should close by the end of the year, is expected to make Dotdash Meredith one of the largest publishers in the country.
Dotdash and its 14 media brands in health, finance and lifestyle, reach about 100 million online consumers monthly, according to the press release. Meredith’s brands include People, Better Homes & Gardens and InStyle. Although the Meredith release didn’t mention Birmingham, in addition to Southern Living, the company’s presence in Birmingham includes Food & Wine, Coastal Living and Cooking Light.
“We’ve often found opportunities in the digital transformations of businesses and industries: travel, ticketing, dating, home services, and now publishing,” said Joey Levin, CEO of IAC. “Meredith is already seeing record digital growth and we think Dotdash can help accelerate that growth.”
The new company, Dotdash Meredith, will be led by current Dotdash CEO Neil Vogel, according to Meredith’s release.
