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Last week's $3.5 billion sale of the Weather Channel did not mark the end of Landmark Communications Inc.'s strategic review. Television operator Bonten Media Group Inc. said on Monday it is buying Landmark's Nashville CBS affiliate, WTVF-TV. Bonten has backing from New York firm Diamond Castle Holdings LLC, which is writing the equity check. Lehman Brothers Inc. is providing debt financing.
When Landmark announced its strategic review in January, the company tapped J.P. Morgan to handle the Weather Channel and Lehman Brothers to examine options for its other businesses, which include television stations, Web operations and newspapers including The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk. Controlled by the family of chairman and CEO Frank Batten Jr., Landmark has been tight-lipped about the extent of its review and whether assets such as the Virginian-Pilot, which has been in the family business for generations, could also be sold. Landmark retained a team from Lehman including Bill Cohen, Greg Dalvito, Janine Shelffo and Neil Meyer. Chris Ripley, William Drewry and Ehren Stenzler of UBS Investment Bank advised New York-based Bonten Media. Earlier in July, Landmark agreed to sell the Weather Channel to a consortium of NBC Universal Inc. and private equity firms Blackstone Group LP and Bain Capital LLC for $3.5 billion. If descendants of Landmark founder Samuel L. Slover want to cash out of the business, the Weather Channel sale certainly provides a hefty check. It has been a time of tough decisions for newspaper families, marked by the termination of the Bancrofts' hold on Dow Jones & Co. and the Ridder family's stewardship of Knight-Ridder Co. The looming question for Landmark is whether newspapers and other businesses that are so closely tied to the family's heritage will also find new homes. - Chris Nolter Dealscape: Stormy weather for Landmark's founding familyTheDeal.com: Landmark launches strategic review TheDeal.com: NBC, PE firms grab Weather Channel TheDeal.com: Murdoch wins over Dow Jones' ruling Bancroft family TheDeal.com: Knight Ridder sells to McClatchy Co. CategoriesComments Deal Video
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