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MediaBuyerPlanner: The Chandler family, whose stake in the Tribune Co. is worth nearly $1.6 billion, is divided about whether to bid for the company in the auction that is currently taking place.
a>Some members of the family believe that if there is money to be made in selling off pieces of the Tribune Co., they might as well be the ones to make it, while others are interested in getting back into the newspaper business, "specifically around the Los Angeles Times property," one member of the family told the paper.
The board of the Chandler trust, however, says that the sale of the entire company is the best outcome for all stockholders.
The family's ownership stake has risen from about 12 percent to about 20 percent this year, thanks to the restructuring of some of the complicated partnerships it had with Tribune.
Lackluster bidding for the company is what seems to have sparked the Chandler debate. Four preliminary bids have arrived from private equity companies acting individually or in groups, while another bid has come from Los Angeles billionaires Eli Broad and Ron Burkle. Another billionaire, David Geffen, has expressed interest in buying The Times but is not believed to have made a bid.
A bid has also come from Gannett Co., but the company might face an obstacle in the form of federal regulations that bar the concentration of media ownership.
Industry experts say that the interest in Tribune means that a sale or breakup of the company is likely, though none of the nonbinding bids have been much above where the stock has traded in recent weeks, according to people familiar with the bidding.
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