The National Enquirer Sought Time Magazine and May Still Get It

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The owner of the National Enquirer was among the suitors for Time, Inc. before the company was sold to the Meredith Corporation this week and he may now get a second chance to buy a slice of the company that includes Time magazine.

David Pecker, chief executive of National Enquirer publisher American Media, Inc. wanted only Time, Inc.’s weekly titles (Time, Sports Illustrated, and People), according to Peter Kreisky, an industry analyst familiar with both Time, Inc. and Meredith. A knowledgeable source of the bidding earlier this year told The Daily Beast, “Pecker seriously wanted to make an offer.”

“AMI looked at Time only in a consultancy role for one of the bidding parties and never offered a bid,” an AMI spokesperson told The Daily Beast. “Peter Kreisky would have no knowledge of any work AMI performed. We have no interest in Time, Fortune, or Sports Illustrated, any suggestion or speculation otherwise is false and does not warrant further comment.”

Pecker himself told The New Yorker in July he wanted to buy Time, Inc. and was, as the magazine put it, looking for a “deep-pocketed partner” to do it.

Enter the Koch brothers.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-national-enquirer-sought-time-magazineand-may-still-get-it

[avebury]

1. Their only goal would be to turn it into tabloid trash. nt