Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong says a Wall Street Journal report about a potential sale of The Los Angeles Times is “inaccurate”.
Dr. Soon-Shiong asserts that “Newspapers are important to the community. Support the Los Angeles Times and San Diego Union-Tribune”.
His remarks come as The Wall Street Journal reports that Dr. Soon-Shiong is exploring a sale of the Times and Union-Tribune.
The New York Times reports that a Los Angeles Times spokeswoman tells them “Dr. Soon-Shiong and his family continue to invest in and plan for the future of the Los Angeles Times, and do not plan to sell.”
The Journal says Dr. Soon-Shiong has “grown dissatisfied with the news organization’s slow expansion of its digital audience and its substantial losses, the people said. He also has increasingly come to believe that the Los Angeles Times and San Diego Union-Tribune—together known as the California Times company—would be better served if they were part of a larger media group.”
Talk of “a larger media group” raises the specter of a sale to Alden Global Capital, Gannett or other large publishing company. Alden Global Capital just announced plans to acquire Tribune Publishing earlier this week. Alden will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Tribune common stock not currently owned by Alden for $17.25 per share in cash. The Los Angeles Times was part of Tribune before Dr. Soon-Shiong purchased it in February 2018 for “nearly $500 million in cash” and assumption of $90 million in debt. Gannett attempted to purchase Tribune, including the Times, in 2016. Tribune, then known as “tronc”, had “serious doubts about Gannett’s ability to finance a transaction.” at the time. Gannett was subsequently sold to another newspaper chain, Gatehouse.
It is possible Dr. Soon-Shiong could pursue a partnership with another media organization without selling.
Dr. Soon-Shiong, a brilliant doctor, scientist and entrepreneur is involved in COVID-19 vaccine research. The Journal asserts that these efforts are consuming his personal bandwidth. The Washington Post reports that Dr. Soon-Shiong has hosted videos on vaccine science for the Times.
