DES MOINES, Iowa —
A Des Moines-based media company employing more than 800 people in central Iowa announced Wednesday its digital and magazine businesses and corporate operations will be acquired by IAC's Dotdash by the end of the year.
Meredith Corporation's National Media Group will be combined with the Dotdash digital publishing unit to form "Dotdash Meredith," according to a press release. Dotdash will acquire Meredith in an all-cash transaction at a purchase price of $42.18 per share.
Meredith currently publishes PEOPLE, Better Homes & Gardens and Allrecipes, among other brands.
This comes months after Meredith announced it would be selling its TV station division to Gray Television.
Meredith says the purchase "combines the power of Dotdash’s digital publishing model with Meredith’s trusted, iconic brand portfolio, loyal audience and scale."
The combined company will be led by Dotdash CEO Neil Vogel. It's expected to be one of the largest publishers in the nation.
Local 5 has reached out to the company to see what this will mean for the Des Moines headquarters.
“The Meredith family is extremely proud of everything the company has achieved over the past 120 years, which is a direct reflection of our dedicated employees,” said Mell Meredith Frazier, Vice Chairman of the Meredith board of directors in a release. “Our creative and devoted employees have guided our beloved brands through a fast-changing media landscape – enriching the lives of generations of Americans. The Meredith Foundation will continue to be an active member in the flourishing Des Moines community, as will Dotdash Meredith.”
Dotdash on its own reaches around 100 million online consumers each month, the release states.
Joey Levin, CEO of IAC, said Meredith is already seeing record digital growth, but Dotdash can help it grow even faster.
“We admire the consumer’s trust in Meredith’s more than 40 brands when it comes to essential life decisions, and we believe true and reliable content created by talented writers, editors, and photographers, backed by real brands, has a very bright future across all platforms," Levin said in a release. "Combined with Dotdash’s ability to deliver readers fresh, unbiased content on any topic, together we can offer uniquely engaged audiences to advertisers and partners—based not on a reliance on private information or personal history but on relevancy to the content they’re consuming and a deep understanding of their needs. No one will do this better than Dotdash Meredith.”