Another Tribune unit put on auction block

Tribune Company is attempting to sell off another business – this time, its Tribune Media Services unit, which distributes news and entertainment listings – to boost its short-term liquidity. Tribune, the second-largest US newspaper publisher, has roughly $13bn of debt, with $1.85bn due in 2008 and 2009, following its deal last year to be bought by Sam Zell, the real estate investor. The Chicago-based publisher agreed earlier this month to sell Newsday, the Long Island tabloid, to cable operator Cablevision to pay down some of its shorter-term obligations, but it still faces long-term challenges. Mr Zell had originally pledged not to sell any of the company’s 11 newspapers, which include the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune. Tribune, which is also trying to sell the Chicago Cubs baseball team and Chicago’s Wrigley Field stadium, has now added its media services business to the list of assets on the auction block, according to people familiar with the situation. Tribune Media Services, which operates as a Tribune subsidiary, provides television and movie broadcast listings and distributes well-known syndicated columns and comic strips. Tribune’s advisers have distributed information on the unit, which generates about $25m in annual earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization and could be worth roughly $200m, to a range of potential buyers. The sale could spark interest both from private equity investors and from corporate buyers within the media industry, such as cable operators or Internet-based content providers, who may be interested in the unit’s content provision.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/95ccfb8c-2d09-11dd-88c6-000077b07658.html
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