MediaBuyerPlanner: Sun-Times Media Group directors are weighing a range of options to address the newspaper company’s difficulties, including putting itself on the auction block.
The company, which yesterday warned that Q3 results would be substantially lower than last year at this time, mentioned the possibility of a review of its 5-cent-a-share quarterly dividend, writes The Chicago Tribune. That dividend costs the company about $16 million annually.
But because the company has long been considered a potential takeover candidate, the announcement caused some speculation that the company might be preparing to sell, according to the article. It is considered by many as too small to compete by itself in a consolidating media marketplace.
Up to now, plans for a sale have been complicated by the fact that the company had been under the shadow of a financial scandal. Former chairman, chief executive and controlling stockholder Conrad Black had fraud charges filed against him by federal authorities last year, alleging that he and others had stolen millions of dollars from the company (then called Hollinger International) before he was booted out in 2003.
Related stories:
- Sun-Times Warns of Dire Q3 Results
- Execs: Newspapers Should Cooperate for Online Ads
- Chicago Sun-Times Restructure Means 300 Lost Jobs
- Sun-Times Publishes Google Print Ads
- Sun-Times Reaches Tentative Settlement to Reimburse Advertisers
- Daily Newspaper Circulation Drops Sharply
