By: A lawyer for the former owners of the Salt Lake Tribune asked a federal appeals court Thursday to revive their lawsuit challenging the $355.5 million price set for them to buy the paper back.
The former owners, the McCarthey family, contend the price is inflated, but a federal judge in Salt Lake City had ruled the courts did not have the authority to require a new appraisal.
The family appealed to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, which became the latest battlefield in the complex, five-year war over ownership of Utah's largest newspaper.
Seth Waxman, an attorney for the McCartheys, told a three-judge panel of the appeals court that the family is entitled to a new appraisal because the company that set the price, Management Planning Inc., did not comply with its contract.
Waxman said MPI was required to base its appraisal on a fair-market auction price but instead considered what the Tribune is worth to Denver-based MediaNews Group, which acquired the newspaper in 2001.
Attorney Kevin Baine, representing MediaNews and MPI, said the appraisal is binding because there was no fraud, corruption or wrongdoing involved. The lower court had said those were the only reasons the appraisal could be overturned under the rules governing MPI's contract.
Baine denied the appraisal was done with MediaNews' needs in mind. He said the McCartheys and MediaNews had agreed to hire MPI and to adhere to its appraisal to avoid a legal battle.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here