Meredith shuffles execs ahead of Time acquisition

With the sun about to set on Time Inc., new owner Meredith Corp. is shuffling the deck, with Steve Lacy relinquishing the Meredith CEO title to current President and Chief Operating Officer Tom Harty.

Lacy, who engineered the $2.8 billion acquisition of Time Inc. — a deal announced in November but expected to be officially finalized on Feb. 1 — will keep the chairman of the board title.

The 98-year-old Time Inc. corporate name will cease to exist that day as the 7,200-person organization is gobbled up by the smaller, 4,000-employee Meredith.

Lacy said he does not see it as a victory lap. “In all sincerity, we don’t look on it quite that way,” Lacy told The Post. “We’re doing a little bit of a divide-and-conquer situation.”

Lacy will continue to work with bondholders, Wall Street, the board of the company and investors, as well as on postal and government issues.

Harty will handle the actual integration of Meredith — home to Better Homes & Gardens and Martha Stewart Living — with the Time titles.

Among the investors Lacy will likely have to keep abreast of developments are the right-leaning Charles and David Koch, the billionaire brothers who control Koch Industries and its investment arm — which is pumping about $650 million of the $1.4 billion in cash needed to pull off the acquisition of the venerable publisher, whose titles include Time, People, Sports Illustrated, In Style and other properties.

Meredith has said it expects to realize $400 million to $500 million in savings over the next two years by eliminating duplicative jobs.

Rumors have been swirling that some Time employees who are lucky enough to survive any cuts would instead see salaries slashed. Harty insisted, “No one’s compensation is changing on Thursday. There’s been no discussion about anyone’s compensation.”

But there will be high-level executive exits. As previously reported by The Post, Jen Wong, the president of digital and chief operating officer of Time, will exit along with CEO Rich Battista the minute the deal finalizes.

Also exiting at that time with be Greg Giangrande, executive VP and chief human resources officer and chief communications officer; Lauren Klein, general counsel; and Leslie Dukker Doty, executive VP and head of consumer marketing and revenue.