It is possible that two billionaires are unlikely to download a massive newspaper deal that would have led to the loss of hundreds of jobs in local journalism across the country.
News management: Maryland hotel mogul Stewart Bainum Jr. and Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss have agreed to donate more than $ 600 million of their own money to help fund a $ 680 million bid for Tribune Publishing, the parent of many one of the most iconic newspapers in America.
- The billionaire’s offer, according to The Wall Street Journal, may now be recommended for consideration by the Tribune’s board of directors to its shareholders, in connection with a cheaper offer from private equity giant Alden Global Capital.
- In February, Alden said he would buy the rest from Tribune Publishing, the parent company of the Chicago Tribune, the New York Daily News and other local newspapers, in a deal that would value the Tribune at about $ 630 million.
- On Sunday, The Journal reported that Banium Jr. and Wyss were able to secure funding for their offer, after initially proposing to pay $ 200 million of their own dollars. Alden will have four days to come up with a bigger offer or risk losing the deal, according to The Journal.
Be smart: Alden Global Capital is a hedge fund known for reducing journalists to local newspapers to maximize profits. He spent years positioning himself as the alleged buyer of Tribune, by gradually increasing his package of shares in the listed company.
- The newspaper reported that the pleas made public by journalists in the Chicago Tribune to save the newspaper from the anticipated destruction of Alden is what inspired Wyss to make the offer.
- Last weekend, The New York Times reported that Wyss was joining Bainum Jr. in its bid for the Tribune, with plans to own the Chicago Tribune.
- Bainum Jr. initially said it would buy the Baltimore Sun, The Capital Gazette in Annapolis and several other smaller Maryland newspapers from the Tribune for $ 65 million to turn the newsgroup into a nonprofit.
- The newspaper reports that Banium Jr. intends to turn Margland-based newspapers into non-profit organizations and control their private trusts.
Be smart: Other wealthy individuals appear to be looking for ways to save their local newspapers from potentially taking over Alden.
- Last week, The Journal reported that a Florida investor named Mason Slaine, who is a minority investor in the Tribune, was willing to pay $ 100 million in the Tribune-led bid for Bainum Jr.
- The WSJ said on Sunday that Slaine is not included in the new bid submitted to the Banium Jr. and Wyss Trumpet Board.
- Slaine allegedly pursued ownership of Tribune’s two Florida newspapers, the Orlando Sentinel and the Sun Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale.
- Last weekend, Morning Call, a work representing Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, owned by Tribune Publishing, reported that a Manhattan investor was the mysterious bidder behind a $ 30-40 million bid for the newspaper.
Go deeper: Billionaires take the news as a new form of philanthropy.