By Angela Moore, MarketWatch
Last Update: 9:34 AM ET Jun 27, 2006
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- About 45 million Tribune Co. common shares were tendered in a just-completed Dutch auction, the media company said Tuesday, adding that the tendered shares represented about 15% of its outstanding stock as of mid-May.
Chicago-based Tribune Co. (TRB) said it expects to buy the shares at a price of $32.50 each.
The company's shares were up 5.7% at $32.66 in morning trading.
Tribune Co. has been locked in a boardroom struggle with a major shareholder, the Chandler Trusts. The shareholder group has called for Tribune Co. to separate its newspaper business from its television-broadcasting business and begin to explore other strategic alternatives, which could include tax-free spin-offs of newspaper assets or the sale of the company as a whole.
"Now, our priority is to improve operating performance through a combination of top-line growth initiatives and additional cost savings," said Dennis FitzSimons, Tribune Co.'s chairman, president and chief executive, in a statement. "We'll also continue to move forward on dispositions of non-core assets."
The company owns such newspapers as the Chicago Tribune, Newsday, the Los Angeles Times and the Baltimore Sun. It also owns 26 television stations and the Chicago Cubs baseball team, among other properties.
The buyback figure is preliminary. The final total is subject to verification by the depositary for the shares.
Tribune Co. said it will also acquire 10 million of its shares at the same price from the McCormick Tribune Foundation and the Cantigny Foundation on July 12.
The company said it plans to buy back as many as 20 million more of its shares in the open market beginning on or after July 12.
In a Dutch auction, a company sets a range of prices -- in Tribune Co.'s case, $28 to $32.50 -- within which holders can tender their shares. The company then chooses the lowest price within the range at which it can buy the number of shares specified in the offer.
Merrill Lynch and Citigroup served as co-dealer managers for the offer.
Angela Moore is a MarketWatch editor based in New York.
Humm I think I know what Fitz means when he says " additional cost savings " translation ( part timers in the reelroom )remember 210 people wanted it this way
ReplyDeleteWhy not? May make getting a Saturday off a little easier if they don't have to pay overtime.
ReplyDelete