NYT Co. Hopes to Sell 'Globe' and 2nd Paper 'Quickly'

By: E&P Staff The New York Times Company hopes to find a buyer for its Boston Globe, and a second paper in that state, quite quickly, according to a confidential letter a Times reporter has obtained. And it wants to find a buyer who will take on $59 million in pension liabilities.

The letter from the company?s investment bankers at Goldman Sachs was obtained by Times reporter Richard Perez-Pena. It reveals the company will focus on getting the highest price and ?on the certainty and speed with which bidders can sign a definitive agreement and complete an acquisition.? It sets a July 8 deadline for initial, nonbinding bids.

Here is more from the Times article.
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In the document, Goldman Sachs does not hint at an anticipated price for The Globe, for which the Times Company paid $1.1 billion in 1993. But the paper has turned into a significant money-loser, becoming the most troubled asset of a company that has scrambled this year to cut costs and raise cash.

The Goldman Sachs letter begins by referring to a transaction involving the Times Company?s New England Media Group, which includes both The Globe and The Worcester Telegram & Gazette, which the company bought in 2000, along with their Web sites.

That wording seems to suggest that the two papers would be sold as a package ? the letter does not explicitly address that question ? and it is not clear how that would affect the thinking of possible buyers. People briefed on the thinking of the company and potential bidders said the company would consider any arrangement that maximized the price, but that the two papers had some joint operations, so it made sense to regard them as a unit. These people were granted anonymity because they were not authorized by either side to speak.

They say that several people prominent in Boston business circles have weighed whether to make an offer for The Globe, talking to possible investors and, in some cases, considering joining forces. They include Jack Connors, the former chief of an advertising agency who now heads a regional network of hospitals and clinics; Stephen G. Pagliuca, a managing director of Bain Capital Partners and one of the owners of the Boston Celtics; and Stephen E. Taylor, a former Globe executive whose family owned the paper before selling it to the Times Company.