Media company Time Inc., which has properties based in Birmingham, is being purchased by a company backed by the Republican donors Charles and David Koch, the Associated Press and other outlets are reporting.

According to the Associated Press report, Meredith Corp. announced Sunday that it was buying Time Inc. for about $1.8 billion. The deal reported had been unanimously approved by both companies' boards of directors. "Meredith brings with it a magazine portfolio that includes Better Homes & Gardens, Family Circle, allrecipes and Shape, while Time Inc. owns properties including Time, Sports Illustrated, People, Fortune and Entertainment Weekly," said the AP report.

The $1.8 billion deal is to close in early 2018, with Meredith paying $18.50 per share for about 100 million outstanding shares of Time Inc. According to the AP, Meredith disclosed that "it is using $3.55 billion in financing commitments from a variety of lenders and a $650 million preferred equity from Koch Equity Development, an investment arm of Koch Industries, to finance the deal and pay down existing debt."

In June, Time Inc. announced that its Food & Wine magazine was moving most of its operations from New York to Birmingham. Time Inc. publications already based in Birmingham include Southern Living, Cooking Light and Coastal Living. Time Inc. Food Studios, which supports a range of publications, also is based in Birmingham.

In July, Bloomberg reported that Time Inc. CEO Rich Battista had said the company was considering selling off Coastal Living and other publications. It wasn't immediately clear how the Meredith merger might affect such plans.

According to the AP report, Meredith said that Koch Equity Development's investment would not entitle it to influence editorial operations.