Time made a strategic divestment Thursday when it sold its Grupo Editorial Expansion to a Latin American-based private equity firm, Southern Cross Group.
The Mexican publishing subsidiary was said to have contributed less than 2 percent of Time Inc.’s 2013 revenue, which would mean it was somewhere under $67 million in revenues.
It was purchased for an estimated $60 million in 2005 and was hyped by then-CEO Ann Moore as a way for Time Inc. to expand its brands in Mexico and to tap the burgeoning Hispanic market in the US.
The group includes 16 titles, including the flagship Expansion, and Spanish language editions of Life & Style, Elle, InStyle, Travel + Leisure and other titles produced only for the Mexican market, including Quién, and Web sites Mediotiempo and Metros Cúbicos.
Moore’s 2005 international enthusiasm hasn’t traveled well.
“Time Inc.’s primary focus today is on growing core assets in the US and UK,” CEO Joe Ripp said on Thursday.
Time Inc. owns London-based IPC Media, the largest magazine publisher in Britain, but rumors have swirled that it, too, could be sold at some point — although nothing has materialized to indicate the company is on the block.
Time Warner had demanded that Time Inc. pay it $800 million to keep IPC as part of the spinoff and that was a big reason Time Inc. was saddled with $1.3 billion in debt going out the door. Time was said to have been exploring strategic options for Grupo for several months ahead of its spinoff from Time Warner on June 6.
Time Inc. stock closed Thursday at $24.39, down 0.2 percent.