The Meredith Corporation — the Iowa-based owner of Family Circle, Better Homes and Gardens and AllRecipes — agreed to purchase Time Inc. in an all-cash transaction valued at nearly $3 billion. The deal was made possible, in large part, by an infusion of $650 million from Charles G. and David H. Koch, the billionaire brothers known for using their wealth and political connections to advance conservative causes.
Charles Koch, the chief executive of Koch Industries, and David Koch have long sought to shape political discourse through their support of nonprofit organizations, universities and think tanks but have never owned their own media company. But in its announcement of the deal, Meredith said that Koch Equity Development would not have a seat on Meredith’s board of directors and would “have no influence on Meredith’s editorial or managerial operations.”