Tribune Co. Sale Delayed

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Any sale of the Tribune Co. or its major assets, including the Los Angeles Times, will not take place until next year, the Chicago media company announced Tuesday.


Advisors to the company and an independent special committee reviewing bids for the company and its assets have recommended the review process be extended into the first quarter of 2007 when a final recommendation to the board is expected, the company said.


“We are committed to a complete review process that will yield maximum value for all Tribune shareholders,” said William A. Osborn, the lead director and chairman of the board’s independent special committee, in a release.


The announcement comes the same day as the company told a group of investors that it is not ready to consider bids for individual properties. Ted Venetoulis, a Baltimore businessman and leader of a group thinking of bidding for the Baltimore Sun, was told that the company was not yet ready to sell individual core assets.


Locally, Los Angeles billionaires Eli Broad, Ron Burkle and David Geffen have expressed interest in buying the Los Angeles Times and former Arizona Diamondbacks owner Jerry Colangelo has expressed interest in the Tribune’s Cubs baseball franchise.


Separately, the company said that the Federal Communications Commission approved the sales of its WCWN Albany, N.Y. television station and its WLVI Boston television station. Both transactions are expected to close by the end of the year and were part of restructuring plan announced earlier this year.


To date, the company has sold or agreed to sell approximately $450 million of non-core assets. Shares in the company closed up 32 cents to $32.10 Tuesday.

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