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With the problems facing traditional media such as newspapers and broadcasting, it is an understatement to say that Sam Zell picked a challenging time to lead Tribune Co. into a debt-heavy privatization. Zell's timing is a little more fortunate on another matter, however: the sale of the Chicago Cubs baseball team and Wrigley Field. The Cubs lead the National League's Central division, have the most wins in Major League Baseball and are piling up cash.
"We could not have chosen a better year to monetize these assets," Zell said during a Tuesday call with investors. Tribune has narrowed the number of bidders for the Cubs and Wrigley from 10 to five. There are others interested in the field alone. The parties are conducting due diligence, and Tribune hopes to present a deal to Major League Baseball by the end of the year. Zell closed the $8.2 billion privatization of Tribune through an employee shareholder buyout in December. The highly leveraged company agreed to sell 97% of Long Island, N.Y., newspaper Newsday to Cablevision Systems Corp. for $650 million in May. Meanwhile, Zell said during Tuesday's call that Tribune is still trying to figure out, "what a newspaper of the 21st century should look like." Zell and Tribune management are turning to what could appear to be unconventional sources to reinvent the fish-wrap business. The company has brought in DirecTV Group's founding chairman and CEO Eddy Hartenstein as publisher of the Los Angeles Times. Zell noted Hartenstein's experience in delivering "subscription-based content to customers" and said he would bring "a fresh, entrepreneurial approach to our newspaper." - Chris Nolter The Web replay of Tribune's investor call Dealscape: Cubs auction hits second round (subscription required) Dealscape: Chicago Cubs auction: Canning strikes out, but may remain in line up Categories Deal Video
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