If Eli Broad is so horny to own the LA Times, why doesn't he buy Tribune Publishing, spin the LAT off to himself, and sell the spare parts?24/7 Wall Street reports that Tribune Publishing is a prime takeover target now that it is worth only $218 million, down from $1 billion a year ago. Despite the low valuation, selling LAT for $300 to $500 million would be a large cash infusion for the surviving company if a sale is completed.
If the LA Times were sold, Tribune Publishing would be cash rich. That could trigger a special dividend or share buyback.
Tribune Newspapers are so intertwined with each other that anyone who bought the wrong one would have to invest a lot of money to replace the parts the they didn't buy. I.E. Their Information Technology is out of Chicago with some in LA, Web sites are supported in LA and Chicago but not really owned by Publishing so they would have to be bought from Tribune Media. Most Content is generated in LA and Chicago and supplied to the other newspapers. I.E. Entertainment content is generated from LA but supplied to other newspapers, most Sports content is from Chicago.
ReplyDeleteHypothetically, in the instance that someone bought Baltimore, they would have to buy National and International content from somewhere or else make it a hyperlocal daily.
Newspaper buildings are also owned by Tribune Real Estate and rented by the Newspapers.
In essence, there are not many assets actually owned by the Newspapers except for their good names and reporting.