Storied magazine publisher Time Inc. (TIME) is reportedly looking for help as it garners takeover interest.
The New York company has hired Morgan Stanley and Bank of America as financial advisers to help the company field offers, sources told The Wall Street Journal on Thursday.
Time Inc.’s new move toward a sale comes after reports last week that Time Inc. had rejected an $18 per-share bid from billionaire investors Edgar Bronfman Jr. and Ynon Kreiz, as well as Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries, according to the New York Post.
A Time Inc. spokeswoman noted the company does not comment on rumors and speculation, while representatives from Morgan Stanley and Bank of America did not immediately return requests for comment.
Shares of Time Inc. were up 8.2% to $17.80 Thursday afternoon. The stock is up about 13.3% year-to-date.
The company, which publishes popular titles including Time and People, has been suffering in recent months due to continually declining print advertising revenue. For the 2016 third quarter, Time Inc. reported that revenue slid 3% year-over-year, and it expects full-year revenue to either remain flat or fall 1%. The projection is lower than a previous outlook for a 1.5% increase this year.
Wells Fargo analyst Eric Katz said in a recent analyst note that media company Meredith (MDP) could express interest in the company following Bronfman’s failed bid.
In 2013, Meredith and Time Inc.’s former owner, Time Warner (TWX) , had been in negotiations to join both companies’ publishing units into a separate company. Talks ended that March, however, with Time Warner ultimately deciding to spin off its publishing unit anyway into what now is Time Inc.
Additionally, Katz mentioned that Time Inc. could garner additional takeover interest from private equity bidders.
About 2.13 million shares of Time Inc. have traded hands on Thursday, well above the 30-day average volume of about 1.54 million shares.