Tribune Buying Back Up to 126M Shares

TRIBUNE BUYING BACK UP TO 126M SHARES
[SOURCE: Associated Press]
Media conglomerate Tribune Co. said Wednesday that it has begun the repurchase of up to $4.3 billion of common shares in an initial step toward going private. The nation's second-largest newspaper publisher is being acquired in an $8.2 billion deal by real estate tycoon Sam Zell. The company will buy back up to 126 million common shares $34 each in a previously announced tender offer. The number of shares represents more than 50 percent of Tribune's shares outstanding. The repurchase is being funded through bank debt and a $250 million investment from Zell. The Chandler Trusts, which hold about 20 percent of Tribune's outstanding stock, will tender all of the company's shares that it holds at the time the offer expires on May 24.
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_con...
* Tribune raises curtain on events leading to Zell deal
Tribune Co. on Wednesday raised the curtain on the events leading up to its planned buyout and indicated the debate around a radical corporate restructuring began long before it broke into public view.
http://chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=24737

* Tribune Starts $4.28 Billion Tender as Part of Buyout
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601204&sid=aJfqqGI7rJmc

* Tribune launches $4.3-billion tender offer
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-tribune26apr26,1,4510...

* Chandlers Finally Get to Cash Out Tribune Stake
The tempestuous, sometimes bitter seven-year relationship between the Chandlers of Los Angeles and the Tribune Co. of Chicago is coming to an end.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/25/AR200704...