Chicago – Shares of Tribune Co., which put itself up for sale in September, fell for a second day as investors grew more concerned that the newspaper company will fetch less than expected.
Tribune, the owner of assets including the Los Angeles Times, 25 TV stations and baseball’s Chicago Cubs, may sell some pieces after bids for the company were disappointingly low, two people with knowledge of the discussions said. Private-equity firms including Bain Capital LLC and Apollo Management LP bid close to Thursday’s $32 share price, about $2 less than the stock’s recent high, one person said.
Investors now may have to wait longer for a sale or end up owning the parts of Tribune that buyout firms or rivals don’t want. Chicago-based Tribune is the second-largest U.S. newspaper publisher and has a market value of about $8 billion.
“We’re potentially going to see a much smaller company than the one we currently know as Tribune,” said Barry Lucas, head of the research group advising institutional investors at Gabelli & Co. in Rye, N.Y.
Tribune shares declined 36 cents, or 1.1 percent, to close at $32.26 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, extending their two-day drop to 3.2 percent.
Tribune spokesman Gary Weitman declined to comment on offers for the company or any change in its plans. The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that the company was considering a sale in parts.
Bidders for Tribune include Boston’s Bain and a group consisting of Thomas H. Lee Partners LP, also based in Boston, and Fort Worth’s Texas Pacific Group, said one of the people, who declined to be named because the negotiations aren’t public. New York’s Apollo, Madison Dearborn Partners LLC of Chicago and Providence Equity Partners Inc., based in Providence, R.I., form another bidding group, the person said.
Carlyle Group, based in Washington, also planned to make a bid, The New York Times reported Saturday.
Tribune’s largest shareholders, the Chandler family trusts, put the company under pressure to find a buyer when, in June, they called for a breakup after the stock fell more than 30 percent in five years.
