Koch brothers lose interest in Tribune papers

The Koch brothers have dropped their controversial pursuit of Tribune Company's newspapers.

But "Koch continues to have an interest in the media business, and we're exploring a broad range of opportunities where we think we can add value," Koch Industries, a conglomerate controlled by Charles and David Koch, said in a statement. The billionaire brothers, known for their generous support of conservative causes, conducted a due diligence assessment of the eight daily newspapers that Tribune has put up for sale, including the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune. But they concluded that a deal wasn't financially viable.