Tribune Company Reportedly For Sale.
Flags wave along Michigan Ave. Bridge outside the Chicago Tribune Tower in Chicago.Tribune Co., owner of the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune, other newspapers and the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field, has hired financial advisers ahead of a possible filing for bankruptcy-court protection, according to reports on Sunday
Tribune sold The Advocate and Greenwich Time in 2007
to the Hearst Corporation.
Tribune Co. Files for Chapter 11
Wall Street Journal
By DENNIS K. BERMAN, SHIRA OVIDE and MATTHEW KARNITSCHNIG
Tribune Co. filed for bankruptcy protection Monday, in a sign of worsening trouble for the newspaper industry.
In recent days, as Chicago-based Tribune continued talks with lenders to restructure its debt, the newspaper-and-television concern hired investment bank Lazard Ltd. as its financial adviser and law firm Sidley Austin to advise the company on a possible trip through Chapter 11 bankruptcy, people familiar with the matter say.
Tribune owns eight major daily newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and Baltimore Sun, plus a string of local TV stations.
A Tribune spokesman said the company doesn't comment on rumors or speculation. A spokeswoman for Lazard didn't respond to requests for comment. Representatives of Sidley Austin couldn't be reached for comment.
Tribune's latest actions underscore the deepening distress enveloping Tribune and other newspaper publishers. Their businesses are being battered by dwindling advertising sales, and many are carrying debt loads that are unmanageable in current market conditions. Industry insiders expect some papers will need to fold in coming months or seek protection from creditors to reorganize.
Tribune has been on wobbly footing since last December, when real-estate mogul Samuel Zell led a debt-backed deal to take the company private. Tribune has stayed ahead of its $12 billion in borrowings with the help of asset sales. Now, however, shrinking profits are tightening the noose.
The company's cash flow may not be enough to cover nearly $1 billion in interest payments due this year, and Tribune owes a $512 million debt payment in June......
......Tribune's hiring of Lazard, meanwhile, brings it a firm experienced in debt restructuring, and one that has become a go-to adviser for newspaper companies in financial distress.
Even as its financial performance worsens, Tribune has some options. A sale of its Chicago Cubs baseball team is under way, and Tribune owns valuable stakes in businesses including the cable-TV channel Food Network.
Tribune already has auctioned off pieces of the company, including the Long Island, N.Y., daily Newsday to raise cash. Now, frozen credit markets have depressed sale prices.
Selling off more newspapers may not be a viable alternative because buyers are scarce and Tribune may be better off holding onto the profits from its papers.
—Jeffrey McCracken contributed to this article.
Write to Dennis K. Berman at dennis.berman@wsj.com, Shira Ovide at shira.ovide@wsj.com and Matthew Karnitschnig at matthew.karnitschnig@wsj.com
MORE:
Tribune Co. Files for Bankrupcty Protection
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Tribune files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
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Tribune Co. has hired financial advisers ahead of a possible filing for bankruptcy-court protection, according to reports yesterday. ...
PLEASE ALSO SEE:
INORDER TO HELP OUT OUR FRIENDS AT THE GREENWICH TIME WE HAVE COLLECTED A BUNCH OF TRIBUNE BANKRUPTCY DOCUMENTS>
ALL GREENWICH TIME EDITOR HAS TO DO IS ERASE THE WORDRS "Tribune Company" AND REPLACE THEM WITH THE WORDS "Greenwich Time"........
But There Is At Least One Guy Who Thinks The Greenwich Time Is The Greatest Thing Since The Pop Up Toaster Was Invented.....
The holidays are upon us, everyone, so let's start entertaining, shall we? For a little inspiration, here's an article from Friday's Greenwich Time about a few holiday table settings I did last month at Consign It, one of my favorite...
Maybe we should add Eddie to the Raw Greenwich Blog Feed.
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