Chandlers may bid for Tribune as last resort

CHANDLERS MAY BID FOR TRIBUNE AS LAST RESORT
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: James Rainey and Thomas S. Mulligan]
Tribune probably will attract few, if any, bids for the entire company by Wednesday's deadline, and any offers it does receive are expected to be close to the current share price. Some following the Tribune saga said they expected at least a few bids for the media giant -- perhaps including one from the Chandlers themselves. A successful Chandler bid would put the family back in control of The Times after a 118-year reign that ended in 2000 when the paper and other holdings were sold to Tribune. Those following the deal closely believe that the family would make such a bid as a fallback. Despite myriad potential pitfalls, they said the most consistent interest in a deal has been expressed by a group composed of three private equity firms -- Madison Dearborn Partners of Chicago, Apollo Management of New York and Providence Equity Partners of Rhode Island. The consortium has long been viewed as a contender for Tribune because of Madison Dearborn's Chicago roots and its reported interest in hometown assets such as the Cubs and WGN-TV. Former Tribune Chief Executive John W. Madigan was a Madison Dearborn partner until he took a leave of absence in the fall and later resigned. Tribune's control of the Cubs could be viewed as particularly attractive to Madison Dearborn CEO John Canning, a onetime college catcher and avid baseball man who has said he would like to own a major league team. Canning already owns several minor league clubs and has a minority interest in Major League Baseball's Milwaukee Brewers. (So, yeah, Cubs fans... the upside may be that our team is run as well as the brewers soon.)
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-tribune15jan15,1,1692...
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See also --

* Odd Couple Ponder Bid for Tribune
Will there be a bid for Tribune from Eli Broad, the straight-talking billionaire whose art collection and philanthropic efforts to revitalize downtown Los Angeles have put him happily in the public eye, and Ronald W. Burkle, the supermarket mogul, Democratic fund-raiser and F.O.B. (friend of Bill Clinton) who tries -- usually unsuccessfully -- to avoid publicity?
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/16/business/media/16tribune.html

* Newspaper Ownership Is Turning The Page
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Frank Ahrens]
A look at parallels between possible Trib sale and that of the orange County Register.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/15/AR200701...
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