Diller’s IAC buying magazine giant for $2B

Barry Diller’s IAC is buying Meredith, one of the country’s largest magazine companies and the publisher of People, Southern Living and InStyle, in hopes of accelerating a digital shift as print fades. IAC’s Dotdash, a collection of websites including Investopedia, Brides, Serious Eats and Simply Recipes, will join with Meredith, the companies announced Wednesday. IAC is paying $42.18 per share, or about $2.1 billion. It’s a big turnaround for Des Moines, Iowa-based Meredith, which only four years ago bought the Time Inc. magazines for $1.8 billion to bulk up its own magazine business.