By: Lucia Moses MediaNews Group Inc. and the former managers of
The Salt Lake Tribune have found little common ground during their long battle over the paper. So it's no surprise the two sides remain far apart as the managers try to exercise their 120-day option to buy the paper from MediaNews.
The managers recently offered $200 million-plus for the
Tribune -- more than the $180 million MediaNews paid to purchase it from the AT&T Corp.
MediaNews' response? "They just laughed," said Philip G. McCarthey, a director of the managers' Salt Lake Tribune Publishing Co. (SLTPC). McCarthey's family owned the
Trib for most of the 20th century.
Denver-based MediaNews, which took over the
Trib Aug. 1 after a 19-month court battle, puts the paper's value at about $395 million.
Under the option contract, each side must now have an appraisal done to arrive at a mutually agreeable price. But MediaNews contends the matter is dead because U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart has ruled that SLTPC needs the OK of the
Trib's joint operating agreement partner,
The Deseret News, which has already turned it down. SLTPC is appealing that ruling. "They don't have the money, and they can't get the consent of the partners," said William Dean Singleton, MediaNews' vice chairman and CEO.
McCarthey is undeterred: "We expect to own and publish the
Tribune again shortly."
Next: SLTPC is due to file briefs Wednesday with the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals as it seeks to overturn the court ruling that allowed MediaNews to take control of the newspaper.
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