Intrigue Builds: Tribune Now Considering a Sell-Off

By: E&P Staff and The Associated Press The intrigue surrounding the troubled Tribune Co. continues to swirl. How else to explain news that L.A. mogul David Geffen sold a Jackson Pollock painting last night for a record price -- about $140 million -- was taken as further evidence that he intends to buy the Los Angeles Times any week now? Recently he sold two other classic paintings for $143.5 million.

Indeed, with bids for the mammoth Tribune Co. coming in far lower than expected, the media giant is telling prospective bidders that individual pieces are now available for sale, according to published reports.

Tribune Co. representatives made a series of calls Wednesday signaling their new intention to those who have expressed interest in the company's individual holdings, according to unnamed sources cited Thursday in the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.

The company put itself on the auction block in late September, and statements by Chief Executive Dennis FitzSimons at the time made clear that officials would prefer to sell the entire company but would keep their options open.

"In order to maximize shareholder value, our initial focus is determining the best strategic alternatives for the company and its publishing and broadcast groups as a whole, before evaluating strategic alternatives for individual business units," FitzSimons said in a statement in September.

Quoting unnamed people involved in the company's sale, media outlets said the bids offered up so far have been lackluster. The Tribune Co. owns the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Cubs, WGN-TV and several other media outlets nationwide.

Three investor groups have submitted preliminary, nonbinding bids for Tribune Co., the Tribune reported, citing unnamed sources.

One group consists of Fort Worth-based Texas Pacific Group and Boston-based Thomas H. Lee Partners. The other bids came from Boston-based Bain Capital and an alliance made up of Chicago's Madison Dearborn Partners, New York-based Apollo Management and Rhode Island-based Providence Equity Partners.

However, investors have shown the strongest interest in the company's individual units, including the Los Angeles Times, Newsday, The (Baltimore) Sun and The Hartford Courant, the report said.

Billionaire Ron Burkle, business leader Eli Broad and Hollywood mogul Geffen have voiced interest in the Los Angeles Times, but no formal offer is said to have been made. Besides the Pollock sell off, Geffen recently raised millions by selling a deKooning and a Johns.

The New York Times today suggests that Gannett may be interested in Florida papers in Orland and Fort Lauderdale, while MediaNews Group could be looking at The Hartford (Ct.) Courant and The Morning Call in Allentown, Pa.

The Times quotes a "person involved" who cautioned that bids so far were low for a reason. The papers up for grabs are all underperforming. "Look at the Knight Ridder papers that were sold to individuals," he said. "They are mainly doing badly."