A pair of reports Friday reveal that Stewart Bainum continues his quest to acquire Tribune Publishing. At last official check, Tribune’s Special Committee of their Board deemed that the Bainum-Wyss offer was no longer reasonably expected to lead to a “Superior Proposal” without the significant equity investment promised initially by billionaire Hansjörg Wyss.
Wyss had particular interest in acquiring The Chicago Tribune and remaking it as a true national newspaper. Now, the Chicago newspaper looms large. The New York Times reports that a new Bainum proposal is contingent on him finding a backer who would take on The Chicago Tribune. The Times says “After discussions with possible investors, Mr. Bainum has yet to find one willing to assume responsibility for the Chicago daily.” The backer would also have to step up with $380 million to go with $200 million of Bainum’s cash and $100 million from new debt.
Meanwhile The Chicago Tribune is also reporting that Bainum is vigorously seeking partners on his Tribune bid. Apparently the Chicago paper itself represents “almost a third of the overall deal.”
On Wednesday, Bainum notified a special committee of the Tribune Publishing board that he would increase his commitment to $300 million. Bainum, who wants to own The Baltimore Sun and sell the rest of the portfolio, has buyers lined up for the chain’s other titles, but not the flagship paper in Chicago, a source close to the situation said.
“We just need someone to step up for the Chicago Tribune,” the source said Friday.
The Chicago Tribune; April 30, 2021
The Tribune says this upcoming week will be critical in deciding whether or not Bainum can find someone to join his fight.
Potential U.S. Newspaper Powerhouse: Alden and Tribune
With the Newslight proposal potentially in the rear view, we should examine what a combined MediaNewsGroup and Tribune would look like.
Alden owns MediaNewsGroup, which operates 200 publications. Titles include the Denver Post, Mercury News, Orange County Register and Boston Herald.
Together, Tribune and Alden would control media properties in half of the top 10 markets in the United States. This includes the three biggest DMAs in the country, New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.
The Alden Merger Agreement
On February 16, 2021, Tribune and Alden announced a merger agreement. This agreement would allow Alden to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Tribune stock, not currently owned by Alden, for $17.25 per share in cash.
Alden currently owns 11,554,306 shares of Tribune common stock, representing 31.6% of the Company’s outstanding shares.
