There are reports that Landmark Communications Inc. could finally
announce a sale of the Weather Channel to a group made up of NBC Universal, Blackstone Group LP and Bain Capital LLC in the next day or two, according to Reuters.
Time Warner Inc.
dropped out of the bidding on June 13 leaving the group the lone bidders in the auction.
Bids for the Weather Channel were rumored to be around $3.5 billion, instead of the $5 billion Landmark Communications was asking. Landmark, which is privately owned by Frank Batten Jr., also owns newspapers and television stations.
Landmark is also shopping
Dominion Enterprises, an advertising Web site and publication business.
Landmark's other assets
could also be on the block. In January, Richard Barry, Landmark's vice chairman, told The
Virginian-Pilot, one of the newspapers the company owns, that J.P.
Morgan Chase & Co. and Lehman Brothers Inc. were hired to explore
"strategic alternatives'' for the company as a whole or in parts.
- Maria Woehr
See Dealscape's Time Warner withdraws Weather Channel bid
See Dealscape's Weather Channel auction enters latest round See Dealscape's NBC and buyout firms in lead for Weather Channel with $3.5B bidSee Dealscape's Joyce: Who is bidding for Weather Channel?
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