Time Warner has turned to longtime outside counsel Cravath, Swaine & Moore to advise on the spin-off of its Time Inc. publishing unit in a transaction that finds the world’s third-largest media conglomerate untethering itself from its storied magazine roots.

New York–based Time Inc. publishes more than 20 consumer magazines, including such popular titles as Time, Sports Illustrated, People, and Fortune. The latter broke the news last month that parent Time Warner was considering splitting the magazine division off in a joint venture deal with Des Moines–based publishing powerhouse Meredith Corporation.