nsiders at Business 2.0 heard that a deal to sell the magazine is likely by week’s end and that three suitors were still in the running.
Michela Abrams, publisher of Business 2.0 and the head of parent company Imagine Media’s business division, confirmed that Time Inc. is one of the bidders, as has been widely reported, but said there were two other suitors, as well.
“They are all media companies,” she told The Post but did not divulge more. If Fortune and Time Inc. take over, they are expected to combine the profitable Business 2.0 with the unprofitable eCompany Now, Fortune’s year-old tech title.
Staffers are admittedly stumped and frustrated as they stay at the center of the guessing game.
“It’s the No. 1 spectator sport in Silicon Valley right now,” said one insider.
Abrams was tight-lipped when reached by The Post, but she did say that one of the media bidders is not a traditional magazine publisher.
“I don’t know of a financial player,” she added.
If a deal is announced by Friday, it is expected to be revealed first in London, where Imagine’s parent company, the Future Network, is a publicly traded concern on the London Stock Exchange. Christopher Anderson, the chairman of Future Media, is in San Francisco negotiating the deal, but he did not return calls by presstime.