Thai business titan closes $150M deal for Fortune magazine
Publishing giant Meredith said Friday it finalized the $150 ą²million sale of Fortune šØmagazine to Thai business tycoon Chatchaval Jiaravanon.
Sports Illustrated and Money ā two other storied bršands that Meredith got in the $2.8 billion Time Inc. acquisition ā remain on the block and wonāt likely sell by yearās end as Meredith had hoped, sources said.
Jiaravanon only appeared on the scene as a potential suitor in October after Marc Benioff and his wife, Lynne, droppį£ed the idea of buying Fortune and instead bought Time for $190 million. That deal was finalized in November.
āThe whole staff is jazzed,ā said Alan Murray, the Fortune editor who was elevated to president and CEO of the new company, which šwill now be called the Fortune Media Group. āChat is a passive investor, but heās a long-term investor.ā
Murray said he expects to add journalists āin the ź¦double digitsā but would not be more specific on theš number.
Jiaravanon is part of the richest family in Thailand and the son of the executive chairman of Thailandās biggest į¦conglomerate, the Charoen Pokphand Group.
āHe definitely wants us to do morą²e,ā said Murray added. āWeāll be hiring journalists, weāll be building our technology and figuring out ways to improve Fortune and make it more of a global brand.ā
Meredith said itšø will use the $340 million raised so far to pay down debt.
It tolš»d analysts that by the end of the sell-off, it is hopinš ·g to raise $500 million.
Meredith is also sellšing its majority stake in MySpace owner Viant, which it also picāked up in the Time Inc. deal.
Meredith declined to comment on further sales.