The auction for Tribune Co. might not be going so well, reports say. Citing sources familiar with the auction, the New York Times said Thursday that first-round bids from prospective private equity suitors for the Chicago media conglomorate as a whole were "disappointingly low." So, the company decided to reach out to other prospective suitors for a "market check" on some of its assets, which the story doesn't specify. Tribune has a whole host of assets, which could spark cross-ownership problems for a bidder to take the company in its entirety, as The Deal's Chris Nolter pointed out last week. But some stand-alones like the Los Angeles Times, Newsday and The Hartford Courant, as the Times pointed out, could draw local suitors, the way Knight Ridder's two Philadelphia dailies did, and the way the Boston Globe has.—Carolyn Murphy
Go to NYTimes article
Go to cross-ownership story from The Deal
See Tribune Dealwatch
See McClatchy/Knight Ridder Dealwatch
See related Boston Globe entry
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