The US media conglomerate Time Warner has decided to spin off its Time Inc. and IPC magazine units as a new public company by the end of this year, after it ended discussions related to merger of magazines with Meredith Corporation.

With this move, IPC’s UK brands like Country Life, Decanter, InStyle and NME will be more integral to the new public entity.

Stephen Lacy, chairman and CEO of Meredith, said: “We respect Time Warner’s decision and certainly remain open to continuing a dialogue on how our companies might work together on future opportunities.”

The new company will have to hire a CEO as Laura Lang, CEO of Time Inc. has announced to step down. Lang told staff she had decided that “taking the company through a transition to the public markets is not where my passion lies”.

Jeff Bewkes, chairman and CEO of Time Warner, said: “Laura indicated to me that we should find a different kind of CEO for this new public company, and I respect her decision.”

Bewkes further said that a complete spin-off of Time Inc would allow Time Warner to focus completely on television networks from CNN to HBO and its Warner Bros film and TV production businesses.

“Time Inc could attract a more natural stockholder base,” Bewkes added.

Time Inc’s competitors Condé Nast, Hearst and Bauer, are privately held companies.