LAT: Local Moguls Express Interest in Buying L.A. Times

[DeepModem Mom]

Local Moguls Express Interest in Buying L.A. Times
Local investors express interest in bidding for the Tribune Co. paper amid a boardroom rift.
By Joseph Menn, Times Staff Writer
June 14, 2006

Could the Los Angeles Times once again be up for sale?

That question is on the minds of several of the city's richest businessmen, who reaffirmed this week their interest in bidding for the country's fourth-largest daily newspaper.

Billionaire investor Ron Burkle, former Olympics organizer and Major League Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth and philanthropist Eli Broad have indicated in recent interviews or in comments to others that they would like to buy The Times or see it in local hands.

"The L.A. Times is a world-class brand," Ueberroth, a financier and former travel entrepreneur, said in an interview this week. "We're always attracted to quality brands."

Though analysts estimate that The Times could sell for about $1 billion, Publisher Jeff Johnson said the paper was not for sale....Yet investors and analysts said Tuesday that a rift between the paper's owner, Tribune Co., and its second-largest shareholder, the Chandler family of Los Angeles, had the potential to put The Times in play....

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-tribune14jun14,1,5483393,full.story?coll=la-headlines-business

[JuniperLea]

1. I'd love to see Eli Broad by the LAT!

He's one of a handful of Dem billionaires in LA.

I worked for his last company for many years and he ran a great ship.

[devilgrrl]

2. I'd love to see the Chicago gang booted out of town...

you have no idea how they've destroyed that paper. :mad:

[DBoon]

3. No shit!

Having David Horowitz on the front of the Sunday opinion section was a new low.

I'm so glad I cancelled.

[devilgrrl]

5. I cancelled several months ago...

they keep calling my apartment, I keep blowing them off.

[depakid]

6. You sound just like a friend of mine

After bitching about the changes in the paper- she finally cancelled her scrip when they fired Robert Scheer. They keep calling her, too! LOL.

[DBoon]

7. I actually got a threatening letter from a collection agency

I sent them a letter canceling my subscription - two months later got a scary sounding letter from some credit agency threatening me if I didn't pay up to continue my subscription. The option of paying any due balance and canceling was never provided.

LAT makes it really hard to cancel.

pulling a stunt like that will ensure I never subscribe again.

On edit:

I responded to the collection agency letter with a strongly worded letter saying that they had no business doing this to someone who had previously canceled the subscritpion in writing and that this was an insulting way to treat their customers. I got a really bitchy sounding message on my answering machine from someone at the Times, denying that they were really going to send me to a collection agency and telling me I was making a big deal out of nothing

[devilgrrl]

9. Wow! That's insane.

I cancelled over the phone, telling the receptionist that changes to the paper and the firing of local reporters (my favorite section was the local news) is what prompted me to do so. They delivered up until the end of my billing cycle back in March.

[goclark]

4. Thank You ~ please save the TIMES nt

It was one time decent.

I refuse to subscribe now.

[jaysunb]

8. I'll re-subscribe when the Chicago gang

and their minions are gone.