Time Inc. is out of the running to buy Forbes, Media Ink has learned.
The publishing giant has been rumored to be a top contender. Forbes was recently put on the block and Deutsche Bank, which is handling the deal, is said to be looking for a price of around $400 million.
Several potential strategic buyers said it was more logically valued at about $210 million — although a bidding war could drive the price higher.
Time Inc. Chief Content Officer Norm Pearlstine had made some favorable remarks about Forbes’ blogger network and other initiatives at a public form recently.
In addition, he had worked briefly at Forbes during his salad days and knows Forbes Chief Product Officer Lewis DVorkin from their days as colleagues at the Wall Street Journal.
On top of that, Fortune and Money will lose their tie-in with the CNNMoney website on May 31, when the joint venture dissolves along with the spin-off of Time Inc. from Time Warner, parent of CNN.
The buzz inside Forbes in recent weeks was that Time Inc. was the top contender — along with a possible wealthy Asian bidder.
But according to one source close to the situation, “Time Inc. did not make the cut.” The source said there is “strong interest from multiple parties across several platforms.”