Prospective Buyers of Boston Globe Will Submit Bids This Week

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With the looming April 18 deadline set by The New York Times and Evercore Partners investment bankers to receive initial bids to purchase the New England Media Group (NEMG), two groups of buyers have surfaced, according to a report by NEMG property The Boston Globe.

Former Globe publisher Ben Taylor and cousin Steve Taylor have joined with a group fronted by former Time, Inc. CEO Jack Griffin and are expected to submit a bid, the Globe reported. So too is a group that includes former Globe president Rick Daniels and private equity mogul Heberden Ryan, according to the Globe article.

The Times announced a couple of months back that it was seeking a buyer for NEMG, which includes the Globe, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette and their respective Web sites, along with direct mail marketing co. GlobeDirect (see "TUOL" post 2/21/13).

Any offers received this week would not be binding, according to the Globe article.

Is the Tribune Co. Getting Out of the Newspaper Biz?

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The Tribune Co. has hired investment bankers Evercore Partners and its own minority owner, JP Morgan Chase, to scope out potential buyers for the media conglomerate's newspaper holdings, the company's flagship daily, The Chicago Tribune, reported today.

The Tribune Co., which emerged from a four-year arduous and costly Chapter 11 bankruptcy last December (see "TUOL" post 1/2/13), has become more broadcast-centric, and is therefore willing to unload the Chicago Trib, along with the Los Angeles Times, Hartford Courant, Baltimore Sun and its other newspaper properties.

Besides JP Morgan Chase, the Chicago-based media company is owned by senior creditors Angelo, Gordon & Co. and Oaktree Capital Management.