Tribune foundation catches AG's eye

TRIBUNE FOUNDATION CATCHES AG'S EYE
[SOURCE: Crain's Chicago Business, AUTHOR: Steven R. Strahler]
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan (D) has taken an interest in the Robert R. McCormick Tribune Foundation's vulnerability to underperforming Tribune Co. stock and possible role in a management-led restructuring of the media company. Representatives of the attorney general met with foundation officials in January to discuss the concentration of foundation assets in company stock. Now, as Chicago-based Tribune weighs a restructuring plan that could increase the foundation's exposure to company fortunes, the attorney general's office says it will closely watch the situation. The attorney general enforces laws governing Illinois charities and can sue to block transactions she deems harmful to charitable beneficiaries. No such action has been initiated with regard to the foundation. According to its latest state regulatory filing, the foundation's portfolio at the end of 2005 was almost exclusively devoted to Tribune shares -- as it has been for more than half a century since the foundation was formed out of Col. McCormick's estate. That portion was shaved to 75% last summer when the foundation sold shares into a Tribune stock buyback plan, the initial company effort to deal with pressure from its biggest shareholder to sell or break up the company.
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