Time Inc. is ready to bail on xoJane and xoVain, the websites founded by Jane Pratt that the company purchased from Say Media just over a year ago.
Pratt is out trying to find a new angel investor or another established publisher to take over, sources say.
“Nobody knows what is going to happen at Time,” said one insider, referring to the general restructuring going on at the publisher.
When Time bought the Pratt sites in October 2015, it was part of a strategy to add small bolt-on acquisitions to boost Time Inc.’s digital footprint and attract more women to its sites.
Around the same time, Zooey Deschanel’s HelloGiggles was acquired. CEO Rich Battista, who took over from Joe Ripp in September, appears ready to unravel at least some of the digital deals.
Mimi, a website that Time started in March 2015 to capture a social media beauty audience, was quietly folded into In Style’s site several months ago, sources said.
A Time spokeswoman declined to comment on xoJane and xoVain.
Meanwhile, in the latest Time Inc. shake-up on Tuesday, Mark Ford, a carryover from the old guard, stepped down as chief revenue officer and was replaced by Brad Elders, president of digital sales.
Ford will remain an EVP and become a senior strategic adviser.
Mark Ellis, the president and COO, sales and marketing, is also exiting. His last day is March 1.
The news comes as Time Inc. stock touched a new 52-week high of $18 a share during Monday trading, before closing the day at $17.60. On Tuesday, it inched up 15 cents.
The internal shuffle sends a clear signal that management under Battista is more focused on transforming the publisher of People, Time, Sports Illustrated, In Style and other titles into a more digitally focused media enterprise than on pursuing a sale.
A trio of billionaire investors — Edgar Bronfman Jr., Warner Music Chairman Len Blavatnik and Ynon Kreiz — teamed up to make an unsolicited $18-a-share bid for the company in recent weeks.
The bid was rebuffed.
Time Inc. has hired Morgan Stanley and Bank of America to sort through the process, according to a report that first surfaced Thursday in the Wall Street Journal.